1891 The “Memory of Azov” Egg
Maria Feodorovna
Purchase price: 4,260 rubles.
Carved from a single piece of heliotrope jasper, the Imperial Easter egg “Memory of Azov”, made for the Empress Maria Fedorovna, is decorated in the Louis XV style. This was the first egg made principally of semi-precious stone and carved by master stone carver Karl Werfel. The egg is applied with open-work rococo scrolls, set with brilliant diamonds and gold flowers. The broad bands at the edges where the two halves of the egg meet are applied with a ruby and two brilliant diamonds. The interior of the egg is lined with green velvet. While the Memory of Azov Egg commemorates the journey to the East undertaken by the Tsesarevich Nicholas and the Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich in 1890-1891, it was presented before the end of their journey, which might well have ended tragically, on account of a failed assassination attempt against the Tsesarevich Nicholas in Otsu, Japan. The Russian princes sailed aboard the warship Memory of Azov, a miniature replica of which, made of gold and platinum, serves as the Egg’s surprise. Evgeny Faberge remarked that the ship was crafted by August Holmstrom, “who put his heart and soul into the ship’s model.” It rests on a plate of aquamarine the color of sea water, set in a golden frame with a hinged loop. The rigging of the cruiser is reproduced to the smallest detail, including miniscule lifeboats in platinum, anchors on chains, the web of most delicate golden masts and the lettering “Azov” on the stern.
In the collection of the Kremlin Armory Museum.