Gatchina Palace (Fabergé egg)
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The Gatchina Palace egg is a jewelled enameled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé in 1901, for Nicholas II of Russia. Nicholas II presented it to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, on Easter 1901.
It is one of two imperial Easter eggs held in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
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[edit] Craftsmanship
The egg is crafted from gold, enamel, silver-gilt, portrait diamonds, rock crystal, and seed pearls. Detailed work around the palace in the surprise shows cannons, a flag, a statue of Paul I (1754-1801), and elements of the landscape.
[edit] Surprise
The egg opens to reveal as a miniature gold replica of the palace at Gatchina, the Dowager Empress's principal residence outside Saint Petersburg.
