1910 The Alexander III Equestrian Egg
Maria Feodorovna
Purchase price 14,700 rubles.
At Easter of 1910, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna received an egg containing a miniature replica of a monument to Alexander III. The choice of the model for the surprise was well justified. Faberge’s Easter masterworks were often made in response to a significant event in the life of the Empire and the Imperial family, which included the erection in 1909 of the first monument in St. Petersburg to the “Peacemaker Tsar.” Carl Faberge always strove to impress and awe members of the Imperial family with his creations: he listened to their suggestions, submitted his designs for their approval and explained the finer points of a project. In the massive structure Faberge could see the potential for a graceful miniature statuette, buttressed by a lofty pediment of lapis lazuli with a shimmering band of small diamonds.
From an entry in a Faberge account book: “Large Egg from carved topaz in a heavy platinum frame in the Renaissance style on a pedestal made of the same, 1,318 rose-cut diamonds and 1 large diamond. Inside, on a pedestal of lapis lazuli, the Emperor Alexander III on a horse of matte gold.”
The pedestal of lapis lazuli was carved at the Peterhof Stonecutting Factory, for which special permission had to be secured from the Minister of the Imperial Court, since the factory was not authorized to accept private commissions. Quadrangular herms, tapered toward the bottom, are affixed at either side of the Egg, terminating in two-headed eagles. The upper part of the egg with its diamond lattice is reminiscent of a shining cupola over the Emperor’s statue.
The setting of the Egg is made of platinum: Faberge had been among the first to recognize this metal’s decorative potential. At that time, it was a relatively new material in the jeweler’s art: items made of platinum bore no makers’ marks and were not subject to assay control. The metal proved indispensable for jewelry. In the 1910s Faberge sold numerous pieces made of platinum or platinum alloys, decorated with diamonds.
As it happens, for many years Faberge’s miniature statuette was the only way to access Paolo Troubetzkoys’s original creation, as the monument, which stood before the Nikolaev (now Moscow) Station was removed in the Soviet times. These days it can once again be seen, standing outside the entrance to the Marble Palace.
In the collection of the Kremlin Armory Museum, Moscow, RF