Constellation (Fabergé egg)

The Constellation egg is one of two Easter eggs designed under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé in 1917, for the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. It was the last Imperial Fabergé egg designed. It remains unfinished.

Constellation Fabergé egg
Unfinished egg from Fersman Mineralogical Museum
(the modern Plexiglass band joins the two halves of the egg)
Year deliveredUnfinished (1917)
CustomerNicholas II
RecipientAlexandra Feodorovna
Current owner
Individual or institutionFersman Mineralogical Museum / Faberge Museum
Year of acquisition2001 / late 1990s
Design and materials
Materials usedGlass, diamond, crystal

Description

Due to the Russian Revolution of 1917, the egg was never finished or presented to Tsar Nicholas' wife, the Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna.

The egg, as it is known from a 1917 document, was made of blue glass with a crystal base, and the Leo sign of the zodiac is engraved on the glass. (The heir to the Russian throne, Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, was a Leo.) There are stars that are marked by diamonds, and there is a clock mechanism inside the egg.

History
1917 plan Sketch of the Constellation

In 2001, a similar item was discovered in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow, and experts believe it to be the unfinished 1917 egg by Fabergé.[1] It is an unfinished item without the diamonds, base and silver putti intended to decorate it. Its authenticity is supported by numerous studies by leading Russian experts.[2]

Second egg

Russian art collector Alexander Ivanov claims that he owns the original (and finished)[3] egg. In 2003–2004 he said that he acquired this egg in the late 1990s and affirmed that "the Fersman Museum erroneously continues to claim that it has the original egg." Fabergé experts do not agree and think his egg is a Fauxbergé.[4] However, Ivanov's egg is in the Fabergé Museum in Baden-Baden, which houses part of his Fabergé collection.

References
  1. Карл Фаберже и мастера камнерезного дела. Самоцветные сокровища России. // Carl Faberge and masters of stone carving. Russian gems. Catalogue of the exhibition in Kremlin, Moscow. 2011. P. 62.
  2. Andre Ruzhnikov (2021), Forgeries in The hermitage
  3. See photo
  4. Andre Ruzhnikov (2021), Fakes in The hermitage

Sources
  • Faber, Toby (2008). Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6550-9.
  • Forbes, Christopher; Prinz von Hohenzollern, Johann Georg (1990). FABERGE; The Imperial Eggs. Prestel. ASIN B000YA9GOM.
  • Lowes, Will (2001). Fabergé Eggs: A Retrospective Encyclopedia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-3946-6.
  • Snowman, A Kenneth (1988). Carl Faberge: Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia. Gramercy. ISBN 0-517-40502-4.
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