| Nécessaire Egg Fabergé egg | |
|---|---|
| Year delivered | 1889 |
| Customer | Alexander III, presented to Maria Feodorovna |
| Current owner | |
| Individual or institution | Unknown |
| Year of acquisition | N/A |
| Design and materials | |
| Workmaster | Unknown |
| Materials used | gold, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, diamonds, pearl ring |
| Height | Unknown |
| Width | Unknown |
| Surprise | Most likely the set of 13 diamond-encrusted gold woman's toilet implements |
The Nécessaire Egg is a Tsar Imperial Fabergé egg, one of a series of fifty-two jeweled eggs made under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé for the Russian Imperial family. It was crafted and delivered to the then Tsar of Russia, Alexander III who presented it to his wife, Maria Feodorovna on Easter day 1889. The egg is one of the lost Imperial eggs.
Contents |
This egg was designed as an etui containing woman's toilet items.[1] While the exact appearance of the egg is not known, it is described in the 1917 inventory of confiscated imperial treasure as being decorated with "multi-colored stones and brilliants, rubies, emeralds and sapphires."[1]
The surprise is likely the set of 13 diamond-encrusted woman's manicure set, though this is not certain. Since there are no known pictures of the egg or any of the items within it, a few brief descriptions are all that is available to determine the design of the egg and the nature of the surprise.[1]
On April 9, 1889 Alexander III presented the egg to his wife, Maria Feodorovna. It was housed at the Gatchina Palace and was taken on at least one trip to Moscow as demonstrated by an invoice for the trip which describes the egg.[1] After the 1917 revolution the Nécessaire Egg was seized along with the rest of the imperial eggs and sent to the Armory Palace of the Kremlin. During the early part of 1922 the egg was transferred to the Sovnarkom, after which the whereabouts of the egg are not known.[1]
The Pearl Egg is often included in the descriptions of the Nécessaire Egg due to the confusion within the incomplete archive records. For some time the Resurrection Egg was believed to be the Pearl Egg due to conclusions drawn by Marina Lopato in her January 1984 article in Apollo.[1] However, a closer examination demonstrates that the two eggs can not be the same since the Resurrection Egg does not open, and there is no place for the pearl ring described by Fabergé's invoice. The Pearl Egg was presented to Alexander III on March 16, 1889 but there is no indication it was presented as an Easter present to his wife. It is possible that due to some problem with the Pearl Egg, the Nécessaire Egg was made as the Easter gift for 1889. This is supported by the fact that both the Nécessaire Egg and the Pearl Egg cost significantly less than eggs made both before and after 1889.[1]