1916 The Steel Military Egg
Alexandra Feodorovna
Purchase price unknown.
The Egg of 1916, made by Faberge for the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, stands out among the magnificent array of precious Easter gifts: it lacks precious stones, and is made from material not typically used for Imperial treasures — steel.
During the War, Alexandra Fedorovna made personal visits to hospitals across Russia, and selflessly allowed her ailing son to join his father at the front, because his presence raised the spirits of the soldiers. Toward the end of 1915 Nicholas II visited the troops of the Southern and Western Fronts, accompanied by the Tsesarevich. He carried out a review of all the regiments at their stations, traveling along the battle lines of both armies, and visited officers’ and soldiers’ dugouts and the observation posts of heavy artillery divisions. Various photographs of the Emperor and the Tsesarevich — e.g. one depicting them standing before a line of troops, conversing with officers — were reproduced in numerous newspapers and magazines at the time.
One such photograph evidently served as a model for the miniaturist Vasilii Zuev, who painted a watercolor on ivory, placed on an easel shaped to resemble the monogram of the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna — this is the surprise of the Steel Military Egg. The Order of St. George Cross and Ribbon, recently awarded to Nicholas II following his visits to the front, are placed at the top of the easel. The Egg itself, placed on a stand made up of four artillery shells, is remarkable for the severity, reserve and purity of its form. Emphasis is laid on the smooth, perfectly polished coolly gleaming steel. The gold decorations have a dry, official cast: monogram of the Empress, Moscow Coat of Arms, and the two-headed heraldic eagle holding in its talons arrows and a bay wreath, symbols of military glory. The Egg is mounted on a base of nephrite. This Egg stands among those works of art that fully capture the mood and the spirit of the war years, difficult for Russia as a whole, and the Imperial family in particular. The atmosphere of the times is perfectly reflected in the miniature by Vasiliy Zuev, dominated by subdued grey tones. A cloudy day, a lowering sky with leaden clouds, a bare tree in the foreground, and before it all stand the Tsar and the Tsesarevich in modest grey overcoats, bending over a map with military commanders. It seems the artists and the jewelers were given the task of depicting the everyday realities of war, showing the Emperor Nicholas II and the Tsesarevich Aleksey in the field with the Russian army. Upon receiving the Egg, the Empress sent a telegram to her husband at the army headquarters, thanking him for the wonderful Easter present, and noting that the miniature group is astonishing, and all the portraits are excellent.
In the collection of the Kremlin Armory Museum, Moscow, RF