Fabergé’s eggs are jewels of great historical value, thanks to the richness of their materials and the hands which they were created by. Peter Carl Fabergé, of Russian origin was born in 1846, in St. Petersburg, he was a jeweler by family tradition and completely revolutionized the world of jewelry when he began to create for Tsar Alejando III in 1885 eggs made of metal and with precious jewels that contained a surprise inside. In total, 69 eggs were created, of which 61 are preserved. The remaining 8 Fabergé’s imperial eggs are considered lost or missing.
Fabergé, was educated and prepared in Germany, England, France and Italy. In 1866, at age 24, he became independent and took control of his father’s workshop for 10 years after his father’s death. Thanks to the quality and originality of his work with the eggs, he was considered as the Official jeweler of the Russian Imperial Court.
Fabergé’s Easter eggs are unique pieces that for more than a century were the result of the demands of the tsars and synonymous with extreme luxury worldwide. These were created in metals such as gold, silver, platinum, inlaid with precious stones like rubies, sapphires, diamonds or emeralds. The designs were very cluttered, like Rococo style. It is said that the inspiration for his creation came from the goldsmith’s trips or Ermitage museum.
According to the experts, Fabergé elaborated 69 Easter eggs for the tsars, the aristocracy, the industrial and financial elite, of which only 61 remain. Likewise, of these 61, 52 belonged to the Russian royal family.
However, after the fall of the Romanov family during the Russian Revolution, the imperial eggs were stolen and dispersed around the world, causing an unprecedented search for Easter eggs. Some say that many are in private collections, others that are in museums, and some have disappeared completely.
One of these, is Fabergé’s imperial egg of the toilet kit, created in 1889, this one surpassed the Russian Revolution, but it was sold in 1952 by a family of collectors to a mysterious buyer. Later its whereabouts were unknown. It was full of emeralds, rubies and diamonds; and it was used to store beauty accessories, such as forks and makeup brushes. Who has it? It is one of the biggest questions.
Another of these eggs, after being last seen in 1902, almost ends up being melted in the United States, because it ended up in the hands of a scrap dealer; fortunately, he learned of its value and it was auctioned off to a collector.
Finally, Fabergé has probably been one of the most outstanding jewelers in the world, because he accumulated not only experience, but also incredible creations for both Russian tsars and important personalities of the time; he also left an important legacy for history for his particular way of making and understanding jewelry. Meanwhile the mystery of the missing eggs will continue…
ALFA