Lapis Lazuli Easter Egg

c. 1885–90

Lapis Lazuli Easter Egg, c. 1885–90. Attributed to Peter Carl Fabergé (Russian, 1846–1920), attributed to House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918). Gold, enamel, lapis lazuli, pearls, diamonds, rubies; overall: 5.9 x 4.5 cm (2 5/16 x 1 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.436 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. 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.