Loading
Lapis Lazuli Easter Egg
Peter Carl Fabergéc. 1885-90
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Peter Carl Fabergé became the crown jeweler to the imperial court of Russia in 1885 after he produced the very first Easter egg for Tsar Alexander III to give to his wife, Empress Marie Feodorovna. Fabergé created his celebrated Easter eggs, symbols of rebirth and renewal, as gifts for the Russian imperial family every year until he had to leave the country in 1919 after the Russian Revolution. Made of gold and lapis lazuli from the Ural Mountains, this egg opens to reveal a compartment enameled to resemble an egg yolk, which contains yet another delightful surprise of an imperial crown holding a tiny ruby or pink sapphire on a chain.
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
Details
- Title: Lapis Lazuli Easter Egg
- Creator: Peter Carl Fabergé (Russian, 1846-1920), House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918)
- Date Created: c. 1885-90
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 5.9 x 4.5 cm (2 5/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
- Provenance: India Early Minshall [1885–1965], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Miscellaneous
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.436
- Medium: gold, enamel, lapis lazuli, pearls, diamonds, rubies
- Inscriptions: Unmarked
- Fun Fact: This egg may have been made for one of the tsar's relatives very early in the run of imperial Easter egg production by Fabergé.
- Department: Decorative Art and Design
- Culture: Russia, St. Petersburg, late 19th-early 20th Century
- Credit Line: The India Early Minshall Collection
- Collection: Decorative Arts
- Accession Number: 1966.436
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
