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Faberge Coronation Egg
Date: 1897 Height: 5 inches Markings: MP (Michael
Perchin), crossed anchors, 56
Length of coach: 3-11/16 inches
This egg is the most popular of all the Faberge eggs. The surface is
enamelled translucent yellow applied to a golden field of starbursts. The
egg is trellised with bands of laurel wrought from gold. Opaque,
black-enamelled Imperial eagles appear at each trellis intersection. Each
eagle carries a small diamond on its chest. The surprise in this egg is
the miniature coronation coach. The accurate and highly-detailed coach
took 15 months to fabricate. Red lacquer and upholstery of the original
coach was recreated using red enamel and the blues of the interior were
also fauthfully reproduced in enamels. The gilt coach frame was reproduced
in gold, the iron wheel rims in platinum, and glass windows in etched rock
crystal. The coach is surmounted by an Imperial crown with rose diamonds.
This superb red gold egg enamelled translucent line yellow on
an engraved field, is enclosed by a green gold laurel leaf trellis-work
cage mounted at each intersection by a yellow gold Imperial double-headed
eagle enamelled opaque black, and set with a rose diamond. A large
portrait diamond is set in the top of the egg within a cluster of ten
brilliant diamonds; through the table of this stone, the monogram of the
Empress is seen. Another, smaller, portrait diamond is set within a
cluster of rose diamonds at the end of the egg, beneath which the date is
inscribed on a similar plaque.
Concealed inside this elaborate shell is an exact replica of
the Imperial coach used in 1896 at the Coronation of Nicholas and
Alexandra in Moscow. In yellow gold and strawberry coloured translucent
enamel, the coach is surmounted by the Imperial Crown in rose diamonds and
six double-headed eagles on the roof; it is fitted with engraved rock
crystal windows and platinum tyres, and is decorated with a diamond-set
trellis in gold and an Imperial eagle in diamonds at either door.
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