The Hen Egg: The First Imperial Egg

THE HEN EGG (THE FIRST IMPERIAL EGG): A FABERGÉ IMPERIAL EASTER EGG PRESENTED BY EMPEROR ALEXANDER III TO HIS WIFE THE EMPRESS MARIA FEODOROVNA AT EASTER 1885

The white enameled egg simulating eggshell, opening by means of three bayonet fittings to reveal a matted gold “yolk” which in turn opens by similar means to reveal a varicolor gold hen in a suede-lined nest with stippled gold edge simulating straw, the hen’s yellow and white gold feathers, yellow gold head and red gold comb and wattle all meticulously chased, the eyes set with cabochon rubies, the body of the hen opening by means of a concealed hinge at the tail, the underside of the body finely chased with yellow gold feet, unmarked.

The Hen Egg is the first of the legendary series of fifty 1 Imperial Easter Eggs created by Fabergé for the last two tsars of Russia between 1885 and 1916. It is unmarked, but, following the opening of the Russian archives and the discovery of the present egg listed as the first among the five earliest Imperial Easter eggs, 2 together with an exchange of letters between Tsar Alexander III and his brother Vladimir referring to this egg, all possible doubts have been dispelled as to its exact nature. 3

On February 1, 1885, Alexander wrote a letter to his brother referring to an order from Fabergé:
“...this could be very nice indeed. I would suggest replacing the last present by a small pendant egg of some precious stone. Please speak to Fabergé about this, I would be very grateful to you… Sasha.” 4

Grand Duke Vladimir sent the finished egg to the Tsar together with a letter on March 21, 1885 saying that the egg being made according to his wishes by the jeweler Fabergé was in his opinion a complete success and of fine and intricate workmanship. In accordance with his wishes the ring was replaced by an expensive specimen ruby pendant egg on a chain, which Empress Maria Feodorovna could wear as a “symbol of autocracy.” Grand Duke Vladimir attached a set of instructions for the Tsar on how to open the hen surprise, warning him of its fragility.
The Emperor replied from Gatchina the same day that he was very grateful to his uncle Vladimir for the trouble that he taken in placing the order with Fabergé and for having overseen its production. He was very satisfied with the workmanship, which was truly exquisite. He appreciated his uncle’s instructions for opening the surprise and hoped that the egg would have “the desired effect on its future owner.” 5

Fabergé’s egg was to be a replica, or a free rendering, of an early eighteenth-century egg, of which at least three examples are still in existence (Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Private Collection, formerly in the Green Vaults, Dresden ). 6 They all have in common a hen surprise, opening to reveal a crown in which is contained a ring. It is generally assumed that the Tsar wished to surprise his wife with a souvenir inspired by an item well known to her in the Danish royal treasury. Fabergé is known to have relished the challenge of measuring his work against that of an eighteenth-century master.Of these three eggs, the Dresden Hen Egg would have been familiar to Fabergé, who lived in the Saxon capital as a young man, and whose parents from 1860 onwards resided in that city and died there.

Fabergé’s original crown and two ruby surprises are listed in Fabergé’s invoice of 1885 and in a description of 1889, but were no longer part of the egg by 1917. The two ruby eggs al one priced at 2,700 rubles accounted for more than half of the total price of 4,151 rubles. A related lapis lazuli hen egg in the Cleveland Museum of Art from the collection of India Early Minshall, possibly a variation on the theme by Fabergé, still retains a ruby pendant suspended within the crown.7 A further unmarked “Egg-and-hen egg” from the collection of King Farouk of Egypt was acquired by Matilda Geddings Gray from Armand Hammer in 1957, when it was thought to be the First Imperial Egg. 8

The Hen Egg is listed in the account books of the Assistant Manager of His Majesty’s Cabinet, N. Petrov, as:
“White enamel Easter egg, with a crown, set with rubies, diamonds and rose-cut diamonds (and 2 ruby pendant eggs – 2700 rubles) – 4151 rubles” 9 followed by another entry:
“9 April (1885) To the jeweler Fabergé for a gold egg with precious stones, 4151 rub. 75 kop. 11 April. Allocation No. 337.” 10

In a list of eggs established in 1889, N. Petrov lists the present egg as the first, dated 1885.

With the exception of the Kelch First Egg and the Scandinavian Egg, none of the hen eggs bear the hallmark of the maker. The present egg’s date falls into the first year of Michael Perchin’s activity.Habsburg , 11 who dates Perchin’s arrival at Fabergé to 1884 based on the year inscribed on the Bismarck Box, believes the Hen Egg to be by Perchin. Ulla Tillander, 12 who dates Perchin’s arrival to 1886, thinks that the egg belongs to the oeuvre of Erik Kollin. The hen-in-the-egg theme containing a crown found many emulators in the nineteenth century. A number of jeweled versions made in Vienna or Hungary are known.

It is generally thought that Tsar Alexander III commissioned this First Egg as a souvenir of home for Alexandra Feodorovna – a token of affection for his homesick wife, who would have known the Danish original in her family’s collection. As a convert to the Orthodox Church, she was well aware of the importance of the egg in Russia as a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ. The tradition of presenting simple painted eggs, generally red, together with an exchange of three kisses and the greeting “Christ is Risen!” (to which the response was “Indeed He is Risen!”) harks back to the Middle Ages. 13 As time went on, eggs became more and more lavish, with elaborately painted duck and goose eggs and with papier-mâché, wood and lacquer eggs supplanting the hen eggs. In the later eighteenth century, after the founding of the Imperial Porcelain Manufacture and of the Imperial Glass Manufacture under Catherine the Great, the Tsarina and the Tsar presented ever-growing numbers of eggs in these rarer materials. The number of such eggs presented at court grew to 5,000 in porcelain and 7,000 in glass by the mid-nineteenth century. By Imperial decree, Tsar Alexander III reduced these numbers, allowing no more than a total of 120 eggs to be presented. During the reign of Tsar Alexander III and Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, the first porcelain eggs with gold 17eweled on a white or sang de boeuf ground made their appearance.

The earliest known example of an Imperial Easter egg is a jeweled, gold, egg-shaped necessaire fitted with a clock, Paris 1757-58, owned by Empress Elisabeth I and bearing her monogram 14 which served as model for Fabergé’s Peter the Great Egg of 1903, now in Richmond, Virginia. Several examples date from the reign of her successor, Empress Catherine the Great, for example an egg-shaped enameled gold brûle parfum, said by tradition to have been given to the Empress by her lover, Prince Grigory Potemkin. It is now in the treasury of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, and was no doubt well known to Fabergé. 15
A diamond-set egg-shaped charm containing a tiny miniature of the Empress is in the same collection and may have inspired Fabergé’s vast number of miniature Easter eggs .16 A set of four cups and covers made of gold, enamel and ivory from the 1780s inspired Faber gé to create an egg decorated with gold lilies of the valley. 17

The First Egg was confiscated by the Provisional Government and sold to a Mr. Derek. It then appeared at an auction at Christie’s in London, March 15, 1934, lot 55, consigned by a Mr. Frederick Berry. It was catalogued as the egg presented by Alexander III in 1888 (sic) and sold for £85 (reserved at 50 guineas) to R. Suenson-Taylor (later created Lord Grantchester), with a Mr. Sassoon as underbidder.

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