Lapis Lazuli Easter Egg
c. 1885–90
Medium
gold, enamel, lapis lazuli, pearls, diamonds, rubies
Dimensions
5.9 × 4.5 cm
Classification
Miscellaneous
Department
Decorative Art and Design
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The India Early Minshall Collection
Accession Number
1966.436
Tags
About this artwork
Peter Carl Fabergé became the crown jeweler to the imperial court of Russia in 1885 after he produced the very first Easter egg for Tsar Alexander III to give to his wife, Empress Marie Feodorovna. Fabergé created his celebrated Easter eggs, symbols of rebirth and renewal, as gifts for the Russian imperial family every year until he had to leave the country in 1919 after the Russian Revolution. Made of gold and lapis lazuli from the Ural Mountains, this egg opens to reveal a compartment enameled...