The Imperial Faberge Eggs
Between 1885 and 1916, fifty-four Imperial Faberge eggs were commissioned by the Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II as easter presents for the Tsarinas Marie and Alexandra Feodorovna. Grabbing the eye of Empress Maria Feodorovna with his striking reproductions of Russian archaeological treasures, Fabergé was named Supplier by Special Appointment to the Imperial Court in 1885. Not long after appointment Faberge created his first Imperial Easter egg for Tsar Alexander III, whose pleasure over the series of bejeweled treasures coincided tragically with the ignominious end to their reign. Over the following 30 years, Fabergé produced more than 150,000 objects for the Romanov court, enabling him to employ 500 highly skilled craftsmen and expand his St. Petersburg firm with branches in Moscow, Kiev and Odessa as well as London. Forty-seven of the fifty-four Imperial Russian Fabergé eggs are known to exist. A cunningly wrought 'surprise' was often concealed inside. Sotheby’s to Sell a Lost Inheritance of the Romanovs, unseen for over 90 years... Which Egg is Your Favorite Faberge Easter Egg? Fabergé's famous collection 
of easter egg jewels of impeccable craftsmanship are Peter Carl Fabergé's finest and most celebrated achievements. Each of the Imperial Russian eggs is a masterpiece of elegance, inventiveness, ingenuity and craftsmanship.It was Alexander III who had asked Fabergé to make an egg for Easter 1885 as a present for the Tsarina. Fabergé egg history says that the Tsar wished to give his wife, who was born a Danish princess, a very special Easter present to remind her of her Danish home. Fabergé 's first Imperial easter egg was a copy of a similar egg, made of gold and opaque white enamel and containing a miniature hen, which you can still see today in the Danish royal collection of Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen.
The success of the idea resulted in an Imperial Commission for a new Fabergé egg every year and there followed the extraordinary series of fifty-four Imperial presentation Easter Eggs. The rest is Fabergé Egg History. People find the history of these extraordinary Easter eggs and their Imperial connection so fascinating, that modern copies or fakes are thus produced, complete with the trappings of Imperial provenance, in the hope of increasing their value.
See The Full Catalogue of Imperial Faberge Eggs Here.
Reference: Solodkoff, A., V. Faberge, Octopus Publishing Group, 1988, London. DailyPress.com - Virginia Museum explores works by Faberge http://www.dailypress.com/entertainment/galleriesandmuseums/dp-fea-faberge-20110706,0,1428058.story at 19th July 2011.
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