Imperial Fabergé eggs

In 1885, Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920) was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III of Russia to create an Easter egg to give to his wife, the Tsarina Maria Feodorvna. The Hen Egg was to become the first in an annual series of eggs created by Fabergé. Each design was left to Fabergé's imagination and he would surprise the imperial family when presenting an egg each Easter. Tsar Nicholas II continued this tradition until his abdication.

Year	Name	H/L[1]	Surprise	Current Owner
Eggs presented to Tsarina Maria Fedorovna, wife of Tsar Alexander III
1885	Hen Egg	6.4 cm	Golden yolk with hen; crown[2] and pendant[2]	Link of Times Foundation
1886	Hen with Sapphire Pendant[2]	—	Hen taking a sapphire out of a wicker basket	—
1887	Blue Serpent Clock Egg	18.3 cm	Clock	Prince Albert of Monaco
1888	Cherub Egg with Chariot[2]	—	—	—
1889	Nécessaire Egg[2]	—	Thirteen toilet articles[2]	—
1890	Danish Palaces Egg	10.2 cm	Screen with ten mother-of-pearl panels displaying watercolours of the Tsarina's palaces and yachts	Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation
1891	Memory of Azov Egg	9.3 cm	Model of the Imperial Russian Navy cruiser Memory of Azov	Kremlin Armoury
1892	Diamond Trellis Egg	10.8 cm	Ivory clockwork elephant[2]	The McFerrin Collection
1893	Caucasus Egg	9.2 cm	Four paintings of the Caucasus home of Grand Duke George	Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation
1894	Renaissance Egg	13.3 cm	Lost, but possibly the smaller Resurrection Egg	Link of Times Foundation
1895	Twelve Monogram Egg	7.9 cm	Unknown[2]	Hillwood Museum, the Marjorie Merriweather Post Collection
1896	Alexander III Portraits Egg[2]	—	Six miniature portraits of Alexander III[2]	—
1897	Mauve Egg with Three Miniatures[2]	—	Heart-shaped frame with miniature portraits of Tsar Nicholas II, Alexandra and daughter Olga	Link of Times Foundation (the surprise only)
1898	Pelican Egg	10.2 cm	Pictures of educational institutions revealed when egg is unfolded	Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection
1899	Pansy Egg	14.6 cm	Heart-shaped easel with eleven miniature portraits of members of the imperial family	Matilda Gray Stream
1900	Cuckoo (Cockerel) Clock Egg	20.3 cm	Singing bird rises when button is pressed	Link of Times Foundation
1901	Gatchina Palace Egg	12.7 cm	Model of Gatchina Palace	Walters Art Gallery
1902	Alexander III Medallion Egg[2]	—	Medallion with portrait of Tsar Alexander III[2]	—
1903	Royal Danish Egg[2]	27.5 cm	Double-sided miniature screen with portraits of the King and Queen of Denmark, Tsarina Maria's parents[2]	—
1904-5 Russo-Japanese War - no eggs presented
1906	Swann Egg	10.0 cm	Mechanical swan	Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz
1907	Love Trophies Egg	14.6 cm	Miniature of the imperial children[2]	Private collection
1908	Peacock Egg	19 cm	Mechanical peacock	Fondation Edouard et Maurice Sandoz
1909	Alexander III Commemorative Egg[2]	9.5 cm	Gold bust of Alexander III[2]	—
1910	Alexander III Equestrian Egg	15.5 cm	Gold miniature statue of Alexander III on horseback	Kremlin Armoury
1911	Bay Tree Egg	27.3 cm	Singing bird rises when a jewel is pressed	Link of Times Foundation
1912	Napoleonic Egg	11.7 cm	Miniature screen with six paintings of the dowager empress' regiments	Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation
1913	Winter Egg	14.2 cm	Basket of flowers	Emir of Qatar
1914	Catherine the Great Egg	12.1 cm	Mechanical sedan chair with Catherine the Great[2]	Hillwood Museum, the Marjorie Merriweather Post Collection
1915	Red Cross Portraits Egg	7.6 cm	Folding screen with miniature portraits of members of the imperial family serving as Red Cross nurses	Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection
1916	Cross of Saint George Egg	9 cm	Miniature portraits of Nicholas II and his son Alexis	Link of Times Foundation
1917	Karelian Birch Egg[3]	N/A	Possibly a mechanical elephant[2]	Russian National Museum
Eggs presented to Tsarina Alexandra Fedorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas II
1895	Rosebud Egg	7.4 cm	Yellow rosebud containing a crown[2] and pendant[2]	Link of Times Foundation
1896	Revolving Miniatures Egg	24.8 cm	Twelve miniature paintings revolving around a central shaft depicting the empress' homes	Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection
1897	Coronation Egg	12.7 cm	Model of the coronation coach	Link of Times Foundation
1898	Lilies of the Valley Egg	15.1 cm	Miniature paintings of the Tsar and his first two daughters	Link of Times Foundation
1899	Madonna Lily Clock Egg	27 cm	Clock	Kremlin Armoury
1900	Trans-Siberian Railway Egg	26 cm	Model train	Kremlin Armoury
1901	Flower Basket Egg	23 cm	Flower basket	Queen Elizabeth II
1902	Clover Leaf Egg	9.8 cm	Clover leaf holding four miniature paintings[2]	Kremlin Armoury
1903	Peter the Great Egg	11.1 cm	Miniature Peter the great statue	Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection
1904-5 Russo-Japanese War - no eggs presented
1906	Moscow Kremlin Egg	36.1 cm	Egg interior decorated to represent the interior of Uspenski Cathedral, and a music box that plays hymns	Kremlin Armoury
1907	Rose Trellis Egg	7.7 cm	Diamond chain with miniature painting of Tsarevich Alexis[2]	Walters Art Gallery
1908	Alexander Palace Egg	11 cm	Model of Alexander Palace	Kremlin Armoury
1909	Standart Egg	15.3 cm	Model of Standart yacht	Kremlin Armoury
1910	Colonnade Egg	28.6 cm	Clock	Queen Elizabeth II
1911	Fifteenth Anniversary Egg	13.2 cm	Miniature paintings	Link of Times Foundation
1912	Tsarevich Egg	12.5 cm	Miniature painting of Tsarevich Alexis on an easel	Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection
1913	Romoanov Tercentenary Egg	19 cm	Globe with one half depicting Russia in 1613 and the other half, Russia in 1913	Kremlin Armoury
1914	Mosaic Egg	9.5 cm	Screen with miniatures of the imperial children	Queen Elizabeth II
1915	Red Cross Triptych Egg	8.6 cm	Egg unfolds to reveal triptych of Orthodox icons	Cleveland Museum of Art, India Early Minshall Collection
1916	Steel Military Egg	10.1 cm	Miniature on easel of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarevich Alexis and officers	Kremlin Armoury
1917	Blue Tsarevich Constellation Egg [unfinished]	N/A	Clock [unfinished]	Fersman Mineralogical Museum or Kremlin Armoury
Notes 1. Height/length 2. Lost 3. Authenticity questioned Sources Faber, T. Fabergé's Eggs. The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces that Outlived an Empire. New York: Random House, 2008. Flores Alvarez, O. Fabergé: From a Snowflake to an Iceberg – The Mcferrin Collection, Houston Press, 19 March 2015.