Egg Timeline - Discussion
Vincent Palmade from the United States:
Dear Annemiek,
First of all - congratulations for your amazing discoveries.
I think you are right that the egg on the left of the second shelf from the top
is the 1887 Easter Egg. The golden stripes on the upper half of the egg are clearly in the style of the Fabergé objects from the mid 80's (e.g. Kollin).
Also and as a result of the recent discoveries regarding early Fabergé Imperial
eggs, including yours - there are not so many other options left for this egg:
1) The appearance of this egg does not correspond to any of the known
Fabergé Imperial eggs offered to Maria Fedorovna (it is in the case
displaying objects belonging to Maria Fedorovna) by Nicholas II or
Alexander III before March 1902, (date of the Dervis Exhibition). Thus, if
it is Imperial, it has to be one of the eggs belonging to Maria
Fedorovna, dating from before 1902 and for which there are no known
photographic or design records.
2) The shape of this egg does not correspond at all to the known
description of the missing 1886 Hen with Sapphire Pendant Egg.
3) It is not the missing 1888 Cherub with Chariot Egg which my wife (Anna
Palmade) and I discovered in the bottom shelf of the same display case
(see the December 2007 Fabergé Newsletter of Christel McCanless).
4) It is unlikely that this egg be the mysterious "Cherub with clock in
gold egg" mentioned for the year 1888 in the list compiled by N. Petrov
(see Fabergé, Proler and Skurlov, page 94). This is because the Cherub
with Chariot Egg was clearly the Imperial egg for 1888 and the price
seems too modest (600 Rubles) given the appearance of the egg in the
photograph.
5) It does not look like the missing 1889 Nécessaire Egg which Kieran
discovered in the old Wartski photograph (although it is difficult to judge based solely on the photograph published).
6) The 1895 egg is now the Blue Serpent Egg thanks to your discovery.
7) The 1896 egg is now the Twelve Monogram Egg thanks to your discovery.
8) It cannot be the missing 1897 Mauve Enamel Egg because it is too small
to accomodate the known surprise of the Mauve Enamel Egg (the egg is
about 7cm versus 8.2 cm for the surprise).
9) It cannot be the missing 1902 Empire Nephrite Egg because the 1902
Dervis Exhibition happened one month before Easter of 1902.
10) Finally, it is also unlikely that this egg be an egg offered to Maria Fedovorna by someone else than Alexander III or Nicholas II since all the
other eggs in both display cases have been offered by the Tsars.
The 1887 Imperial Egg?
Note: the object behind the Alexander III (ex twelve monogram) egg in image 2 of your article is the (opened) Pelican egg (not the 6 portraits of Alexander III).
best,
vincent
See the now new 1887 Third Imperial Easter Egg
Dear Vincent,
Thank you for your extensive and excellent description of the new 1887 Egg. If the Egg still exists, it must be possible to find it!
I was not sure about those miniatures on the von Dervis picture. They seem so round, while the Pelican Egg is oval, but you must be right*. I searched every pixel of the photograph but there are no other miniatures that could fit the "six portraits of Alexander III", at least not visible.
* Vincent was very right; I now have a photograph of the back of the miniatures. (updated March 31, 2009)
Page updated: March 31, 2009