Easter is the most important Orthodox celebration in Russia: after the religious services, families, bring decorated eggs as gift that symbolically allude to renewed life and hope. During the nineteenth century, the aristocracy of Moscow and St. Petersburg celebrated the festivity giving precious items the Tsar to excel. In 1885, since Easter time was also the twentieth anniversary with the Tsarina Maria Fedorovna, Alexander III decided to surprise her with a jewel never seen before, commissioned to the goldsmith Karl Fabergé.
On the Easter morning, Fabergé handed to the palace what appeared to be a simple enameled egg. The empress was happily surprised when she discovered inside a hidden gold yolk that concealed, like a matrioska, a golden hen, a small diamond carved in the shape of a royal crown and a small ruby egg.
The gift was really appreciated and the goldsmith was required to create a different egg every year, inspired by the events in Russia and by the family Romanov life. The tradition of the imperial eggs lasted for over 30 years, continued by the following Tsar Nicholas II and stopped because of the tragic end of the imperial family during the revolution.

The Eggs and Fabergé

The creation of the imperial eggs required a year of hard work. Everything started from the design of the piece, inspired by the family of rulers: Fabergé looked for ideas into the private life of the Romanovs in order to capture their memorable moments and their passions. Whether asked by the Tsar, all eggs had to reveal one or more surprises inside. The working phase committed for many months a large team of skilled craftsmen, who worked secretly. The final result was imaginative and artistically superb, so much that at the World Exhibition held in Paris in 1900, the Imperial Eggs were acclaimed spreading the fame of Faberge in Europe. After that, the jeweler’s works started to be required by the aristocracy of the entire continent (although Fabergé’s attention was always mainly dedicated to the Tsar).

The revolution

Starting from October 1917, the tough economic conditions and famines caused riots and strikes both in Moscow and in St. Petersburg. When also the imperial troops joined the protesters, the government collapsed and the 15th March Nicholas II abdicated.
The following day, the arrest of the Romanov family was ordered: they remained prisoners in Siberia for over a year and then executed.
With the end of the Romanov, it corresponded the end of the imperial Easter eggs: not just frivolity result of the opulence of a decadent monarchy, but extraordinary artistic documents.

Nowadays

Today there still are 42 out of more than 50 eggs realized for the imperial family, scattered between museums and private collections. Among the collectors, Malcolm Forbes prided the largest collection of Faberge eggs. In 2004, the year of his death, the Russian Victor Vekselberg bought the collection bringing back to Russia the precious jewels.
Today there are several ways to have an egg associated to the name Fabergé: authorized reproductions of imperial eggs, eggs created by descendants and eggs made by companies authorized to use the trademark. Valid solutions to have a timeless prestige.