Even though Fabergé eggs are famous all over the world, many do not know some interesting facts about these jewels that have been a symbol of luxury for years and also have a story full of love, loveless, war, mysteries and misfortunes that makes us be witnessing mysterious and fascinating works of art. Therefore, we are going to present you some information that you possibly did not know about Fabergé eggs.
1. Their creator is Peter Carl Fabergé, who achieved to create 52 eggs that bear his last name, showing off his enormous creativity, and that were intended exclusively for the Russian imperial family; a fact that has made him one of the most famous jewelers of all time.
2. The Fabergé company started out being humble and simple, as they were not always official jewelers of the Russian imperial family. Its story begins in a basement, where Carl Fabergé’s father owned a jewelry store before working as a goldsmith in St. Petersburg. Then Carl continued with the family tradition, and for things in life, Tsar Alexander III saw his creations, being delighted with them, so he ordered them to be displayed at Hermitage Museum, and by 1885 he created the first imperial Fabergé egg.
3. Between 1885 and 1917, the 52 Fabergé eggs were part of the series of sixty-nine jewels that were made by Carl Fabergé and its team of craftsmen both for the Russian tsars and for some members of the great Russian nobility and the industrial and financial bourgeoisie of the time.
4. Fabergé eggs represent a treasure of Russian history, and some of them are currently in Russian museums, where they are cared for and protected as a historical and cultural heritage of this country.
5. The idea of Fabergé eggs started as a simple Easter gift; that is why they are also known as Easter eggs and were part of the love story of Tsar Alexander III with Mary of Denmark. It is said that one day when Mary of Denmark felt very sad because she was away from her family, Tsar Alexander III decided to give her an Easter egg full of jewels, which filled her with joy, and this made it become a tradition for the Russian imperial family, spreading to other areas later.
6. When the Romanovs, the Russian imperial family, fell from grace because in 1917 the Russian Revolution was imposed, some of Fabergé eggs were looted and taken to other parts of the world.
7. Three of the Fabergé eggs went to the Queen of England, while the British King George V and Queen Mary, who were always admirers of these artistic creations, achieved to buy three more, among which are the mosaic egg, the colonnade clock-egg and the flower basket egg, that currently belong to Queen Elizabeth II.
8. One of the Fabergé eggs, which was last seen in 1902 and was considered lost for many years, appeared and was about to be melted down by a junkyard who acquired it for 8,000 euros and without knowing its origin and its real cost, wanted to take advantage of the gold it contained. However, good luck led him to read the information about this work of art in an article on the internet, which said that it had a cost of 20 million euros. That way, he managed to sell it by a much higher price, and currently it belongs to a private collector.
9. Fabergé eggs are divided into two groups: the 52 imperial eggs, which were created especially for the imperial family of Alexander III and of which forty-four have been located, including the last two that were never completed or delivered to the imperial family due to the Russian Revolution, meanwhile the remaining eight eggs are missing. Given their high quality, it is currently estimated that each Fabergé imperial egg costs around 24 million euros.
The second group is made up of 17 non-imperial eggs with a lower value and smaller size, which were created for different high society families from all over Europe.
10. Throughout 40 years of Russian history, Carl Fabergé gave Tsar Alexander III nine Fabergé eggs as presents, and only sold him one, and after the Russian empire fell in 1917, with the arrival of the Russian revolution, most of Fabergé eggs were stolen, lost, or sold.
11. As for the location of the eggs, it is known that currently 10 Imperial eggs are in the Kremlin Armory and 9 are part of the Fabergé Museum exhibition in Saint Petersburg. For her part, the Queen of England has 3, and 5 are in the Museum of Fine Arts in Virginia, United States, while the rest of the eggs are distributed in various museums and private collections.
Undoubtedly, the story of these works of art by Carl Fabergé is full of interesting events, culture, creativity and above all, feelings and love for jewels, which human beings have always carried with them, so they should not only be seen as luxury and power items, but also as authentic works of art for jewelry.
ALFA