Fabergé egg

Lore & Background

The House of Fabergé was founded by goldsmith Gustav Fabergé in 1842 in Saint Petersburg. After Peter Carl Fabergé took the helm in 1882, the imperial eggs were commissioned. The first imperial egg, the Hen Egg of 1885, had a 65 mm outer enamel shell, a golden band, and opened to reveal a golden yolk, a golden hen, and a miniature diamond replica of the imperial crown and a ruby pendant (both later lost). It cost 4,151 rubles, and six weeks later the emperor made Fabergé supplier to the imperial court. Designs became more elaborate, executed by craftsmen including Michael Perkhin, Henrik Wigström, and Erik August Kollin.

After Alexander III's death in 1894, his son Nicholas II presented a Fabergé egg to both his wife Alexandra Feodorovna and his mother Maria Feodorovna. Records show 20 eggs were given to the former and 30 to the latter. Eggs were made each year except 1904 and 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. Two more imperial eggs were designed but not delivered: the Karelian Birch Egg (sketches exist but not confirmed made) and the Blue Tsesarevich Constellation Egg (only partially completed due to the 1917 Russian Revolution). Fabergé also made eggs for private clients, including the Duchess of Marlborough, the Rothschild family, the Yusupovs, and twelve for industrialist Alexander Kelch (only seven completed).

Reader's Guide

Fabergé eggs are significant as masterpieces of jewelled art and symbols of the opulence of the Russian imperial court. Each egg embodied a story and a surprise, such as the Hen Egg's nested golden hen and crown, or the Danish Palace Egg's folding screen with palace views. Techniques like guilloché enamelling were introduced, and quality was strictly overseen by Peter Carl Fabergé or his son Eugène. After the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks nationalised the House of Fabergé, and the family fled to Switzerland. Many eggs were sold by Joseph Stalin between 1930 and 1933 to raise foreign currency, with buyers including Armand Hammer and Emanuel Snowman of Wartski. The largest collection after the Kremlin Armoury was assembled by Malcolm Forbes, later purchased by oligarch Viktor Vekselberg for over US$100 million and displayed at the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg from 2013. The Rothschild Egg sold for £8.9 million in 2007, and the Winter Egg for £23 million in 2025. The Fabergé trademarks were consolidated in 2007 under Fabergé UK Limited, which continues to make luxury jewellery.

Did You Know?

• As many as 69 Fabergé eggs were created during the Tsarist era, of which 61 are known to have survived.
• The Hen Egg of 1885 contained a miniature diamond replica of the imperial crown and a ruby pendant, both now lost.
• Two imperial eggs were designed but not delivered: the Karelian Birch Egg (sketches only) and the Blue Tsesarevich Constellation Egg (partially completed due to the 1917 Revolution).
• In 2011, Theo Fabergé, grandson of Peter Carl Fabergé, created a series of eggs as part of the St. Petersburg Collection.