5 things you didn’t know about Fabergé eggs

Written by Laura | Updated May 21st 2021

For anyone new to the world of Fabergé eggs, there are a few key things to know as a basis. A Fabergé egg is a type of bejewelled egg, created originally by Peter Carl Fabergé from the jewellery firm House of Fabergé . There were 50 original imperial eggs created for the Russian imperial family between 1885 and 1916, however, some sources report 52 being created. Beyond this collection, it's believed there were as many as 69 eggs made in total, and 61 still linger today – which is exactly why they're so prized.  

1. Fabergé Eggs were Easter gifts

Never mind chocolate for Easter, the Tsars had more opulent ideas for gifts. The story began with Tsar Alexander III in 1885. His young wife, Maria Flodorovna was born Dagmar of Denmark, but was sent away from her family for an arranged marriage to the Tsar of Russia. Feeling alone and in a foreign land, Maria suffered from homesickness and depression. Seeing her sadness, the Tsar commissioned a jewelled egg as an Easter gift for his wife - the very first Fabergé egg. Maria was delighted with the exquisite egg and so it became a tradition that the eggs would be made, two each year, as gifts for the wives and mothers of the aristocracy. A happy Easter indeed.

• ‘The Hen Egg’ - the original Fabergé Egg 

2. Some Fabergé Eggs are missing

After the fatal fall of the Romanov family during the Russian Revolution, the Imperial eggs were looted and scattered throughout the world, creating one of the most intriguing Easter egg hunts ever. Some are in private collections, some are in museums and some have vanished without a trace. One of them, the Imperial Fabergé Nécessaire Egg, crafted in 1889, was known to have survived the revolution, and was sold in 1952 by a family of antique dealers to a mysterious buyer listed only as ‘a stranger’. After that, its location became unknown. This egg was richly set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, and was intended to hold beauty tools, such as hairpins and makeup brushes. As for its whereabouts now? Nobody knows.

• One of the missing Imperial Fabergé Eggs - TheNécessaire Egg

3. The Queen of England owns three

It’s perhaps no surprise that because of their rarity and elusiveness, Fabergé eggs are the ultimate collector’s objects. The British King George V and Queen Mary were huge fans of Fabergé objects and so in 1933, they purchased three exquisite imperial eggs – the Colonnade Egg Clock, the Basket of Flowers Egg and the Mosaic Egg. The eggs now belong to Queen Elizabeth II, who also owns multiple other Fabergé collectables including ornaments, boxes and photo frames.

• The Mosaic Egg - one of the three Fabergé eggs owned by The Queen of England

4. One was nearly melted

Several years ago, a €20 million Fabergé egg wound up sitting unidentified at an antiques market in the United States. Like several others, the egg had been lost for years. It was last seen in public in March 1902 and ended up being purchased for €8,000 by a humble scrap metal dealer. Without knowing the treasure he had just bought, he planned to melt down the egg for its gold - until he stumbled upon an online article revealing it to be a €20 million Fabergé egg in 2012. Having sat in a kitchen for years, the egg now rests with a private collector, and has gone on public display on a few occasions.

• The Third Imperial Easter Egg

5. The House of Fabergé had extremely humble beginnings

Peter Carl Fabergé wasn’t always the official jeweller of the Russian Imperial Court. In fact he wasn't even Russian. So how did this happen? Peter’s father, Gustav Fabergé trained as an ordinary goldsmith in St. Petersburg, before opening up a basement floor jewellery shop. Born in 1846, Peter then followed in his father’s footsteps and underwent extensive training, tuition and study of goldsmithery. In 1882, he took over the family business when his father passed away, and that year Tsar Alexander III saw some of Fabergé’s work at an exhibition. The Tsar was captivated, and ordered the items to be displayed in the country’s Hermitage Museum as examples of first-rate modern Russian craftsmanship. By 1885, The House of Fabergé had been commissioned to make the first imperial egg, and a legacy was born.

• ‘The Coronation Egg’ made in 1897

While the opulence of the original, imperial eggs remains limited to the first series produced under Peter Carl Fabergé, the House of Fabergé has continued to make luxury eggs, exquisite jewellery and objects d’art for a century.

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