{"id":2529,"date":"2012-02-09T21:06:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T21:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steampunkopera.wordpress.com\/?p=2529"},"modified":"2012-02-09T21:06:58","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T21:06:58","slug":"faberge-eggs-from-the-lost-russian-dynasty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/faberge-eggs-from-the-lost-russian-dynasty\/","title":{"rendered":"Faberge Eggs From The Lost Russian Dynasty"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Winter Egg, 1913\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.idiva.com\/media\/photogallery\/2011\/Jul\/winter_faberge_egg_600x450.jpg?resize=450%2C600\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Faberge Winter Egg, 1913<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, in Victorian era Russia, an entire other universe of interesting things were happening. The Tsars were at their most opulent and various seeds of unrest were stirring, led by self proclaimed anarchists long before\u00a0the\u00a0communists, which would one day coalesce into the Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>But we are will not concern ourselves with such heady matters. Today we are interested in\u00a0the\u00a0most\u00a0batshit, over the top easter eggs ever conceived.<\/p>\n<p>Seriously. These are Easter eggs. Because nothing celebrates the death and resurrection of the man who made famous the phrase &#8220;It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven&#8221; better then taking a bloody EGG, A (expletive) EGG, and putting enough bling on it to feed the entirety of Siberia for 3 years.<\/p>\n<p>The first Faberge egg was made in 1885 by\u00a0the\u00a0goldsmith Peter Faberge, by request of Tsar Alexander III. His wife, the\u00a0Empress Maria Fedorovna had had a fancy easter egg as a little girl which she\u00a0had\u00a0adored but had long since lost.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge hen egg\" src=\"http:\/\/emilywheeler.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/04\/faberge-golden-hen-egg.jpg?w=550&#038;resize=300%2C249\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"249\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first Faberge egg: The Hen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Peter Faberge created the Hen Egg which the Tsar then presented to his wife. Maria was nothing short of delighted by it. Alexander gave Faberge a pat on\u00a0the\u00a0back and told him to\u00a0make\u00a0more, do whatever he wanted, and go nuts with it.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 464px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Peter The Great Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/0\/0e\/Peterthegreategg.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"464\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Peter The Great Egg, 1903<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So he did. The designs became more and more elaborate and the entire royal court would\u00a0wait\u00a0with baited breath to see what faberge would pull off each easter. No one, not even\u00a0eh\u00a0Tsar was allowed to know ahead of time what the year&#8217;s egg would look like, although the one thing that could be counted on was that each egg must contain some type of surprise inside the egg itself.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 375px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Gatchina Palace Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/perasperaadastrablog.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/03\/1901gatchinapalace-egg.jpg?w=500&#038;resize=375%2C525\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"525\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gatchina Palace Egg, 1901<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>50 egss were made specifically for the royal family, although the Faberge house became\u00a0the\u00a0darling of the\u00a0royal\u00a0court and eventually all of Europe.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 357px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Coronation Egg 1897\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dailyartfixx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Faberge-Coronation-Egg-1897.jpg?resize=357%2C409\" alt=\"\" width=\"357\" height=\"409\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Faberge Coronation Egg 1897<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The true Faberge eggs are those made between\u00a0the\u00a0first one in 1885 and the last one, unfinished in 1917 when the Russian revolution hit. The Romanovs were all killed of course and when in 1918 the Bolsheviks nationalised Peter Faberge&#8217;s company, he and his family left Russia on\u00a0the\u00a0last diplomatic train out\u00a0of\u00a0the country. The overthrow of Russia by the Communists broke Faberge&#8217;s heart and he\u00a0never\u00a0recovered emotionally and he died in 1920 in Switzerland.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 328px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Caucasus Egg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artonstamps.org\/Countries\/Liechtenstein\/Easter\/faberge-7.jpg?resize=328%2C409\" alt=\"\" width=\"328\" height=\"409\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Caucasus Egg, 1893<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 1927, Stalin, desperate for cash, sold most of the eggs. Of the 50 original eggs only 42 are currently accounted for and of\u00a0the\u00a08 lost eggs, photos exist of only 2.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 446px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Basket Of Wild Flowers Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/5\/56\/Basket_of_Wild_Flowers_%28Faberg%C3%A9_egg%2900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"446\" height=\"559\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Basket Of Wild Flowers Egg, 1901<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Faberge&#8217;s descendants have kept the family name and jewellry business alive and well, continuing to make fine jewelry.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 449px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Moscow Kremlin Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/d5\/Moscow_Kremlin_Egg.jpg\/449px-Moscow_Kremlin_Egg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"449\" height=\"599\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moscow Kremlin Egg, 1906<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 672px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" title=\"Faberge Napoleanic Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/steampunkopera.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/02\/napoleonicegg.jpg?w=300&#038;resize=640%2C480\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Napoleanic Egg, 1912<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Rose Trellis Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/thumb\/1\/1b\/Rose_Trelis_Faberge_Egg.jpg\/470px-Rose_Trelis_Faberge_Egg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"470\" height=\"599\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rose Trellis Egg, 1907<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 338px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberg\u00e9 Romanov Tercentenary Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/5\/50\/Romanov_Tercentenary_Egg-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"338\" height=\"450\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Romanov Tercentenary Egg, 1913<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2534\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2534\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/steampunkopera.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/02\/1915rose.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2534\" title=\"Faberge Rose Cross With Triptych\" src=\"http:\/\/steampunkopera.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/02\/1915rose.jpg?resize=350%2C380\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"380\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2534\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rose Cross With Triptych, 1915<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 615px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Faberge Trans Siberian Egg\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/e\/ee\/Faberge_Train_Egg_Kremlin_April_2003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"517\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trans Siberian Egg, 1900<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 667px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" title=\"Faberge Azov Egg, 1891\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/1\/13\/Memory_of_Azov_Egg.jpg\/741px-Memory_of_Azov_Egg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"667\" height=\"540\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Azov Egg, 1891<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/d3lvr7yuk4uaui.cloudfront.net\/d.html?c=UlM6MDA6QmVsZ3JhZGU6NTo5NDM5OmY2ZGU4ZjU2MWZkNDQwNjU5MDk1MzlkYjU1NTBlNThkOmE2NTJj\">http:\/\/d3lvr7yuk4uaui.cloudfront.net\/d.html?c=UlM6MDA6QmVsZ3JhZGU6NTo5NDM5OmY2ZGU4ZjU2MWZkNDQwNjU5MDk1MzlkYjU1NTBlNThkOmE2NTJj<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meanwhile, in Victorian era Russia, an entire other universe of interesting things were happening. The Tsars were at their most opulent and various seeds of unrest were stirring, led by self proclaimed anarchists long before\u00a0the\u00a0communists, which would one day coalesce [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[180,433],"class_list":["post-2529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-history","tag-victorian-era","clearfix"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulshapera.com\/temp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}