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Faberge Lilies
of the Valley Egg
 Date: 1898
Height: 5-5/16 inches, 7-7/8 inches when open
Markings: MP (Michael Perchin), crossed anchors, 56
One of only two eggs executed in the Art Nouveau style, this golden egg
is covered by a multitude of pearls and is covered with pale pink enamel.
The eggs is supported by cabriole legs of matte green-gold leaves with
rose diamond dewdrops. The gold-stemmed lilies of the valley have green
enamelled leaves and pearl flowers. The egg is surmounted by an Imperial
crown of rose diamonds and cabachon rubies. A pearl knob, when twisted,
reveals the surprise of this egg: portrait miniatures of Czar Nicholas II
and his two oldest daughters: Olga and Tatiana. The portraits are raised
by a geared mechanism inside the egg and causes the portraits to spread
fan-like once they have emerged from the egg. The portraits are framed in
rose diamonds and backed with gold panels engraved with the presentation date: April 5, 1898.
Gold egg enamelled translucent rose on a guilloche field
and supported on four dull green gold cabriolet legs composed of
overlapping leaves veined with rose diamonds. The egg is surmounted by a
rose diamond and cabochon ruby Imperial Crown set with two bows and
quartered by four lines of rose diamonds and decorated with
lilies-of-the-valley in pearls and rose diamonds.
The surprise consists of three oval miniatures of
Nicholas II in military uniform, and the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana,
his first two children, within rose diamond borders which rise out of the top of the egg.
 
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