41 Fabergé Egg Facts For Kids To Know About The Jeweled Item

A Fabergé egg is a jeweled egg laden with various precious jewels such as diamonds and rubies.

The Fabergé eggs derive their name from the sole jewelry firm that created these Fabergé eggs back in the day, the House of Fabergé located in Saint Petersburg in the Russian Empire.

Peter Carl Fabergé, also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé, was the primary supervisor under whom these Fabergé eggs were manufactured during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

According to historians, around 69 Fabergé eggs were manufactured, but only about 57 are known to exist today. All the Fabergé eggs are today recognized after being divided into three categories, the imperial eggs, the kelch eggs, and some other Fabergé eggs.

All of these eggs were manufactured by the House of Fabergé itself. Still, the imperial eggs were manufactured specifically for the imperial family, whereas the kelch eggs, on the other hand, were made for Alexander Ferdinandovich Kelch.

Alexander Ferdinandovich Kelch was a gold mine industrialist by profession and hailed from Siberia.

These eggs were made as gifts for the wife of Alexander, Barbara Kelch Bazanova. Although the kelch eggs also fall under the category of Fabergé eggs, they aren't as unique, elaborate, and valuable as the imperial eggs.

A Fabergé egg was commissioned either by Tsar Alexander III or Nicholas II or Alexander Ferdinandovich Kelch to be created as easter gifts either for their wives or their mothers, which is why the Fabergé eggs had the shape of an easter egg but contained jewels and other valuables.

Facts About Fabergé Eggs

Fabergé Eggs have some of the most interesting background stories, whether it is the imperial egg or the kelch egg. The Fabergé egg is the most exquisite type ever created; they were produced under only one man's supervision and was made for only 30-35 years.

Sadly, since the fall of the Romanov family during the Russian revolution, the Fabergé eggs have gotten scattered all over the world.

• Did you know, the Fabergé egg was not always called an egg. When Fabergé first started making them, they were known as 'Imperial Easter Eggs.'
• The first Fabergé egg was made in 1885 for Tsar Alexander III, and he gifted it to his wife, Maria Feodorovna.
• When the first Fabergé egg was created, Peter Carl Fabergé wanted the egg to have a diamond ring inside it in the center, but Tsar Alexander III instructed him that the finished egg must have a ruby pendant.
• This first-ever Fabergé egg was named the Hen egg or the Jeweled hen egg. The egg is currently under the possession of the Russian businessman and Fabergé egg collector, Viktor Vekselberg, who has the most extensive private collection of Fabergé eggs in the world.
• The hen egg Fabergé is commonly known as the original Fabergé egg, and the egg was unique in many ways. It was composed of solid gold and had a surprise element inside, which contained diamonds and rubies.
• Did you know there were no initial plans to produce so many Fabergé eggs? After the first hen egg, which was gifted to Maria Feodorovna, she was so impressed that Tsar Alexander III ordered more Fabergé eggs to be made every year.
• Of the 69 Fabergé eggs, 50 were made for the Russian imperial family and were categorized as imperial eggs. These eggs remain to be the most valuable Fabergé egg types.
• Did you know Tsar Alexander III initiated the tradition of gifting a Fabergé egg as an easter egg? Following his death in 1894, Nicholas II, the son of Tsar Alexander III, continued the tradition.
• Did you know that the Fabergé Easter egg, made in 1906, was a mini replica of the Moscow Kremlin?
• Did you know, in 2014, a Fabergé egg resurfaced at a flea market in America when a scrap metal dealer purchased the golden egg for around $13,300?
• Interestingly, the metal dealer had no idea of what he had purchased but, upon research, realized that the golden egg was worth more than $20 million. The egg is historically known as the 'Third Imperial' and is currently a part of a private collection.

Fabergé Egg's History

Fabergé eggs are an integral part of Russian history. Fabergé eggs are always at the top of the wish list of every private collector.

One of the biggest reasons behind such high value of the Fabergé eggs is they are laden with jewels of all sorts.

They were only made for a brief period in history under the supervision of a single man, which increases the value of these items by manifold. Let's take a trip down history and understand how the Fabergé eggs came into existence and the story behind it.

• The Fabergé egg gets its name from the House of Fabergé, which was the sole original maker of these Fabergé eggs and was founded back in 1842 by Gustav Fabergé.
• Gustav's son Peter Carl Fabergé added the Fabergé egg to the product line of House of Fabergé after its demand by Tsar of Alexander III.
• Did you know it was the brother of Alexander III, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who had initially suggested Peter Carl Fabergé create a jeweled egg which later went on to become the famous Fabergé egg?
• The historians say that the first Fabergé egg, the Hen egg, was inspired by an egg made for the Danish Royal Collection back in the 18th century.
• Did you know, after the first Fabergé egg, Fabergé was appointed 'goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown' to make another egg the following year?
• Did you know, after the first couple of eggs, Fabergé had all the freedom to design the eggs, and he made them more elaborate year after year.
• The only demand of the Tsar was that the egg must contain a surprise element, and every egg must be unique from one another.
• Did you know that Peter Carl Fabergé only worked on and approved the egg's design? The artisans who worked on the egg were Henrik Wigström, Erik August Kollin, and Michael Perkhin.
• After the death of Alexander III, his son, Nicholas II, acquired around 50 Fabergé eggs, giving 30 of those to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, and 20 Fabergé imperial easter eggs to his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna.
• Did you know, these Fabergé eggs were made every year from 1885 to 1917 except for 1904 and 1905 when the Russo-Japanese War was underway.
• Interestingly, Fabergé made these easter eggs for other clients, such as the Yusupovs, the Duchess of Marlborough, and the Rothschild family.
• Did you know, the Russian nobleman, Alexander Kelch, had asked Fabergé to make twelve eggs for him. Still, only seven eggs are believed to have been delivered to Alexander, which he gifted to his wife, Barbara.
• During the 1910s, when the Bolsheviks captured Russia, the Fabergé family moved to Switzerland for safety and left behind most of their treasures.

Secrets Of Fabergé Eggs

A wide variety of Fabergé eggs were made under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé. He eventually had the freedom to design the imperial egg according to his wishes, but each one had some element of surprise inside and was unique in some way or the other.

Let's look at some of the most types of Fabergé eggs and the uniqueness and secrets they possess.

• One of the most famous Fabergé eggs was the winter egg made in 1913. Alma Theresia Pihl famously designed the winter egg, and it was later given to the dowager empress Maria Feodorovna by his son, Tsar Nicholas II.
• Did you know that the egg was made up of rock crystal and further engraved with diamonds and platinum on the outside?
• The egg's surprise element lay inside it in the form of a platinum basket that contained anemones, demantoid garnets, and gold flowers.
• The winter egg was studded with a whooping 1,378 diamond pieces. The egg was recently auctioned to a private collector for $9.6 million in 2002.
• Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Empress Alexandra, were coronated in 1896. The Tsar gifted a Fabergé egg known as the coronation egg to his wife the following year to commemorate the occasion.
• The coronation egg's unique and most exciting feature lay inside it, containing a large portrait-cut diamond. One could see the princess' monogram inside the egg.
• The egg also contained a smaller-sized portrait diamond which was further covered with rose diamonds, and the portrait diamond mentioned the date of the coronation.
• Today, this coronation egg sits prettily in the Fabergé museum owned by Viktor Vekselberg, which features all the 15 Fabergé eggs owned by the Russian businessman.
• One of the most celebrated Fabergé eggs is the Renaissance egg, famous for being the last Fabergé egg that Tsar Alexander III gifted to Empress Maria in 1894.
• Upon its discovery, the secret or the surprise inside the egg was missing. Still, experts believe that the secret of this imperial egg was the Resurrection Egg, a crystal egg-laden with jewels that were contained inside the Renaissance egg.
• The Renaissance egg is currently in possession of Viktor Vekselberg after purchasing it from Malcolm Forbes in 2004 and many other Fabergé eggs.

Fabergé Egg Symbolism

The origin and history of Fabergé eggs also talk about the symbolism of this indispensable part of history. Fabergé eggs were created for a reason more than a century ago from this day.

• Imperial Russia celebrated Easter with great zeal and enthusiasm, and there were joyful celebrations all across the country.
• Generally, on Easter, following the customary church services, the families gathered around to exchange gifts of decorative eggs which were symbols of renewed hope and life. A similar celebration took place in 1885, but the world saw Fabergé eggs for the first time.
• 1885 also marked the twentieth marriage anniversary of Czar Alexander III and his wife, Maria Fedorovna. The queen was homesick, and thus Alexander III came up with a unique gift to mesmerize her.
• The Fabergé egg symbolized the easter eggs, which were gifted on Easter and marked Czar Alexander III's love for his wife, Maria Fedorovna.
• It was not only the beauty and the jewels that caught the princess's attention but also the surprise element within which made her fall in love with the Fabergé eggs.
• This event gave rise to the tradition of the leader of the imperial family of Russia, gifting Fabergé eggs to his wife and later his mother as well every year on the occasion of Easter.
• This tradition continued till the end of Imperial Russia when Bolsheviks took over the city of Saint Petersburg and no more Fabergé eggs were ever made.