1899 The Pansy Egg

Maria Feodorovna

Purchase price: 5,600 rubles.

The Imperial Easter Egg “Pansy” in nephrite was the first of the “flower” eggs made by Faberge for the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna. The egg rests on a bunch of twisted gold leaves, from which emerge five flowers on long stems. The Egg is made of dark-green nephrite, and the flowers are of gold, diamonds, and solid white, red, green and violet enamels.

The surprise is a heart-shaped easel with eleven wild strawberries, each decorated with a personal monogram, all coalescing into a single initial M. The easel frame is surmounted with the Star of Bethlehem set in rose-cut diamonds inside a laurel wreath, below it the year 1899. The easel can be folded. At the push of a button all the medallions simultaneously spring open, revealing eleven miniature portraits of the Imperial Family.

In a private collection, United States.