Lapis Lazuli Fabergé egg | |
---|---|
Year delivered | 1885-1890 |
Customer | Unknown client |
Current owner | |
Individual or institution | Cleveland Museum of Art |
Year of acquisition | 1965 |
Design and materials | |
Materials used | Lapis lazuli, gold, enamel, pearls, diamonds, rubies |
Height | 45 millimetres (1.8 in) |
Width | 59 millimetres (2.3 in) |
Surprise | The egg opens to reveal a yolk, which contains an imperial crown and small ruby egg. |
The Lapis Lazuli egg is a jewelled Fabergé egg, attributed to the House of Fabergé in St. Petersburg, Imperial Russia. Unlike many of the other Fabergé eggs, Lapis Lazuli was a private commission and isn't considered to be one of the imperial Easter eggs, [1] as it was never given to a Russian Tsarina.
It is currently part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection. [2]
The egg exterior primarily consists of lapis lazuli, a deep-blue metamorphic rock. It is also made up of gold, enamel, pearls, diamonds, and rubies. [3] [4] Inside the egg is a decorative orb (a "yolk") that can be opened to reveal a miniature imperial crown as well as a small ruby. [5]
The egg is unmarked. [6] The design is similar to the Kelch Hen, another Fabergé egg that is red and contains a similar decorative yolk with a small hen inside of it. [4] [6] [7]
The egg was created in the late 1800s or early 1900s by the House of Fabergé. [3] The Cleveland Museum of Art estimates it may have been created between 1885 and 1890. [5] The original commissioner or owner of the egg is unknown. [7]
India Early Minshall started collecting Fabergé objects in 1937. [8] In the following decades, Minshall acquired many more Fabergé works, including the Lapis Lazuli and Red Cross with Triptych eggs. [8] [2] Following her death in 1965, Minshall's private collection was given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, who proceeded to display over 60 items from her collection in a special exhibition. [9] Lapis Lazuli continues to be displayed at the Museum as part of the India Early Minshall Collection. [6] [5]
In two articles, the first one published in September 2021 in The Burlington Magazine [10] and a second one published in early 2022 in the Fabergé Research Newsletter, [11] it is hypothesized that this egg might be a Fauxbergé made specifically to contain the original surprises of the Rosebud egg; a miniature version of the Imperial Crown of Russia and an egg-shaped ruby pendant.