Video: "Bouquet of Lilies" is an Easter egg made by Carl Faberge that has never left Russia
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Today Catholics celebrate Easter, and Orthodox Christians celebrate Palm Sunday. For more than a hundred years, Faberge eggs have remained one of the symbols of this bright holiday. In total, the legendary jeweler created 52 imperial Easter eggs, of which only a few have never been exported outside Russia. One of these is a jewelry egg "Bouquet of lilies".
Carl Faberge made the first Easter egg in 1885 by order of Emperor Alexander III for his wife Maria Feodorovna. A luxurious gift was presented in honor of a special occasion - the Bright Resurrection of Christ and the anniversary of the engagement of the imperial couple. Faberge also made a corresponding gift - a chicken egg, covered with white enamel on top. A surprise was hidden inside the miracle egg: a golden yolk, inside which, like in a nesting doll, a golden chicken, as well as a miniature copy of the royal crown decorated with diamonds and a chain with a ruby.
Maria Feodorovna liked the gift so much that the emperor made it an annual tradition to present her with all the new works of Faberge. Nicholas II continued the tradition: he presented eggs made in the Faberge jewelry workshop to mother Maria Feodorovna and wife Alexandra Feodorovna from year to year.
Between 1885 and 1917, 52 eggs were made, but only 42 of them survived. Each egg is a unique piece of art. One of the largest in size is an egg called "Bouquet of Lilies". This egg was made for Easter 1899; in addition to Faberge himself, the jeweler Mikhail Perkhin, one of the best jewelers in Russia, worked on it. Carl Faberge chose a Louis XVI watch as a model for inspiration. The ingenious jeweler managed to realize a difficult idea: he turned an egg into a watch dial, placing Roman numerals adorned with diamonds along the contour. The hand of the clock is made in the likeness of Cupid's arrow.
The choice of flowers for decorating the egg was not accidental: roses symbolize beauty and love, and white lilies, made of gold and chalcedony, symbolize the innocence and purity of the Virgin Mary. Cupid's torches are a sign of family love.
Today, the Bouquet of Lilies and nine more Faberge eggs are kept in the collection of the Armory Museum in Moscow. Some eggs from the imperial collection can be seen in other museums in Russia and abroad.
More Little-Known Facts About Faberge's Eggs you can find out from our review.
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