1896 The Egg With Revolving Miniatures

Alexandra Feodorovna

Purchase price: 6,750 rubles.

The Egg is made of white rock crystal, divided at the middle by a band of green enamel set with rose-cut diamonds. At the top the band connects with a rosette, composed of rose-cut diamonds, from which rises a slender column of gold applied with white and red enamel. Beneath the column are several rose-cut diamonds, at the top a gold rosette, crowned with small rose-cut diamonds; the rosette holds an egg-shaped emerald. Another column of gold supports the Egg itself, its top tier decorated with a pattern composed of the letter A in alternating red and blue, each letter topped with a crown of rose-cut diamonds. The lower tier of the column is decorated with the initials AΘ, the A’s in white enamel and the Θ’s in red; once more, each initial is topped with a crown of rose-cut diamonds. Between these two tiers run four rows of rose-cut diamonds, while the foot of the column is bordered by a reeded gold fringe. The column is mounted on a pedestal of rock crystal. Inside the crystal egg stands a gold faceted column, to which are mounted six small frames in the form of screens, each presenting a view in miniature on either side. The frames revolve when the central column is set in motion by rotating the emerald at the top of the Egg.

In the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, VA).

https://www.vmfa.museum/piction/6027262-8036593/