Peter the Great (Fabergé egg)

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Peter the Great
rock crystal, enamel
Height111 millimetres (4.4 in)
SurpriseMiniature gold replica of Peter the Great equestrian statue

The Peter the Great egg is a

Alexandra Fyodorovna. The egg is currently located at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States.[1]

Design

Made in the

St. Petersburg in 1703. It is made of red, green and yellow gold, platinum, rose-cut diamonds, rubies, enamel, rock crystal, and miniature watercolor portraits on ivory. The egg measures 41⁄4 by 31⁄8 (diameter) inches.[2]

Executed in gold, the curves are set with diamonds and rubies. The body of the egg is covered in laurel leaves and bulrushes that are chased in 14-carat green gold. These symbolize the source of the "living waters". The spiky heads are set with square rubies. White enamel ribbons inscribed with historical details encircle the egg. On the top of the egg is an enameled wreath which encircles Nicholas II's monogram. The bottom of the egg is adorned with the double-headed imperial eagle, made of black enamel and crowned with two diamonds.[1]

The egg shell features four miniature watercolors painted by B. Byalz. The paintings representing the "before" and "after" of St. Petersburg in 1703 and 1903. The front painting features the extravagant

Neva River. On the sides of the egg are portraits of Peter the Great in 1703 and Nicholas II in 1903. Each of the miniatures is covered by rock crystal. The dates 1703 and 1903, worked in diamonds, appear on either side of the lid above the paintings of the log cabin and Winter Palace, respectively.[1]

Below each painting are fluttering enamel ribbons with inscriptions in black Cyrillic letters. The inscriptions include: "The Emperor Peter the Great, born in 1672, founding St. Petersburg in 1703", "The first little house of the Emperor Peter the Great]in 1703", "The Emperor Nicholas II born in the 1868 ascended the throne in 1894" and "The Winter Palace of His Imperial Majesty in 1903."[2]

The design of the piece is based on an egg-shaped gold and enamel clock nécessaire made in Paris in 1757 for the Tsarina

Hermitage Museum.[3]

Surprise

Surprise in the background

The surprise is that when the egg is opened, a mechanism within raises a miniature gold model of

Peter the Great's monument on the Neva, resting on a base of red granite. The model was made by Gerogii Malychevin. The reason for this choice of surprise is the story of a legend from the 19th century that says enemy forces will never take St. Petersburg while the "Bronze Horseman" stands in the middle of the city.[1]

History

St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 during the

Westernize Russia. St. Petersburg became a European cultural center and continues to be the most westernized city in Russia.[4]

The Peter the Great Egg was sold in 1930 to Armand Hammer, an American entrepreneur who had business interests in Russia. It was later bought by A la Vieille Russie, New York City. In 1944, it was purchased by Lillian Pratt of Fredericksburg, Virginia (1876–1947) and bequeathed to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1947. It remains on permanent view in their European Decorative Art Collection.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0917046412
    . Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  2. ^ a b Mieks – Fabergé Peter the Great Egg Archived 2008-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Fabergé Research Site, Peter the Great Egg
  4. ISBN 9781589790179
    .

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peter the Great (Fabergé egg).
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