Imperial Coronation (Fabergé egg)

1897 Imperial Fabergé egg

The Imperial Coronation egg is a jewelled Fabergé egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1897 by Fabergé ateliers, Mikhail Perkhin and Henrik Wigstrom. The egg was made to commemorate Tsarina, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. It was frequently on exhibition at The Hermitage Museum (specifically the Winter Palace) in St. Petersburg, Russia, and also materialized in various museums worldwide, placed in temporary exhibits there. It is currently owned by one of the Russian oligarchs, Viktor Vekselberg.

The egg is made from gold with translucent lime yellow enamel on a guilloché field of starbursts and is in reference to the cloth of gold robe worn by the Tsarina at her Coronation. It is trellised with bands of greenish gold laurel leaves mounted at each intersection by a gold Imperial double headed eagle enamelled opaque black, and set with a rose diamond on its chest. This pattern was also drawn from the Coronation robe worn by the Empress. A large portrait diamond is set in the top of the egg within a cluster of ten brilliant diamonds; through the table of this stone, the monogram of the Empress can be seen. At the other, more narrow end, a smaller portrait diamond is set within a cluster of rose diamonds surrounded by a flower motif made of 20 narrow gold petals. At this end of the egg the portrait diamond covers the date 1897 inscribed on a plaque similar to that of the monogram. The egg was presented together with a glass enclosed jadeite stand for the display of the carriage at a cost of 5650 rubles.

Fitted inside a velvet lined compartment is a precise replica, less than long, of the 18th century Imperial coach that carried the Tsarina Alexandra to her coronation at Moscow's Uspensky Cathedral. The red colour of the original coach was recreated using strawberry coloured translucent enamel and the blue upholstery of the interior was also reproduced in enamels. The coach is surmounted by the Imperial Crown in rose diamonds and six double headed eagles on the roof; it is fitted with engraved rock crystal windows and platinum tyres decorated with a diamond set trellis in gold and an Imperial eagle in diamonds at either door. The miniature is complete with moving wheels, opening doors, actual C spring shock absorbers and a tiny folding step stair. Missing surprises include an emerald or diamond pendant that hung inside the replica coach, a glass enclosed jadeite stand for the display of the carriage as well as a stand made of silver gilt wire.

The Egg was first given to Tsarina Alexandra of Imperial Russia on Easter of 1897. The egg was displayed in the Empress' apartment at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, resting in a jewelled carriage. Upon the fall of the Romanov Dynasty, the egg was confiscated by the Provisional Government in 1917 and was listed among the treasures removed from the Anichkov Palace. It was then dispatched to the Kremlin and finally transferred to the Sovnarkom in 1922 for sale.

The egg was purchased in 1927 by Emanuel Snowman for Wartski a family owned firm of art and antique dealers in London. The egg was then sold to the collector Charles Parsons in 1934, but then reacquired by Wartski in 1945 and remained with the company until early 1979.

The James Bond film, Octopussy (1983), encompasses the mysterious appearance of a counterfeit Coronation Egg at a party in the British ambassador's residence in East Berlin. The plot for the film is adapted from Ian Fleming's 1963 short story "The Property of a Lady". An accurate model of the Imperial Coronation Egg was depicted in the 2004 crime film Ocean's Twelve. The replica was produced by design studio Vivian Alexander, popular for recreating famous items of jewelry for public and private purposes. The replica is worth approximately USD4,000. In the film, the egg was stolen in a grand heist from a museum in Rome. A replica of the Imperial Coronation Egg, along with the surprise coach, appear in the first episode of the Amazon. com series The Romanoffs (2018).