1895 The Blue Serpent Clock

Maria Feodorovna

Purchase price: 4,500 rubles.

The Blue Serpent Clock Egg was the first in the series of Imperial Easter eggs, presented by Nicholas II to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna. The Egg rests on a shaft of varicolored gold, applied with decorations of opalescent white enamel. The gold serpent, set with diamonds, coils around the shaft, connecting it to the Egg, and rises up to its middle, where the serpent’s head and tongue indicate the hour, set in Roman numerals on a panel of solid white enamel. Most of the Egg is covered in translucent blue enamel and gold bands set with small rose-cut diamonds. The upper and lower portions of the Egg conceal elements of a chime mechanism. Gold handles in the form of C-shaped sculptured arches are set on either side of the Egg, connecting to it near the top and at the middle.

In the collection of Prince Albert II, Principality of Monaco.