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Continuing a practice initiated by his father, Alexander III, Tsar Nicholas II presented this egg to his mother, the dowager empress Marie Fedorovna, on Easter 1901. The egg opens to reveal as a surprise a miniature gold replica of the palace at Gatchina, located 30 miles southwest of St. Petersburg. Built for Count Grigorii Orlov, the palace was acquired by Tsar Paul I and served as the winter residence for Alexander III and Marie Fedorovna.Fabergé's revival of 18th-century enameling techniques, including the application of multiple layers of translucent enamel over "guilloché," or mechanically engraved gold, is demonstrated in the shell of the egg. So meticulously did Fabergé's workmaster, Mikhail Perkhin, execute the palace that one can discern such details as cannons, a flag, a statue of Paul I (1754-1801), and elements of the landscape, including parterres and trees.
Page data
- Page
- 4
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 581885c0f0be04cd
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 4432
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
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"sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/44.500",
"contentType": "object",
"stage": "normalized",
"title": "Gatchina Palace Egg",
"description": "Continuing a practice initiated by his father, Alexander III, Tsar Nicholas II presented this egg to his mother, the dowager empress Marie Fedorovna, on Easter 1901. The egg opens to reveal as a surprise a miniature gold replica of the palace at Gatchina, located 30 miles southwest of St. Petersburg. Built for Count Grigorii Orlov, the palace was acquired by Tsar Paul I and served as the winter residence for Alexander III and Marie Fedorovna.Fabergé's revival of 18th-century enameling techniques, including the application of multiple layers of translucent enamel over \"guilloché,\" or mechanically engraved gold, is demonstrated in the shell of the egg. So meticulously did Fabergé's workmaster, Mikhail Perkhin, execute the palace that one can discern such details as cannons, a flag, a statue of Paul I (1754-1801), and elements of the landscape, including parterres and trees.",
"provenance": "Tsar Nicholas II, St. Petersburg; Dowager Empress Marie Fedorovna, St. Petersburg, April 1, 1901, by gift [retained in Anichkov Palace until 1917]; Alexandre Polovtsoff, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1930, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
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Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
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Document source metadata
{
"id": "4432",
"sourceUrl": "https://purl.thewalters.org/art/44.500",
"contentType": "object",
"stage": "normalized",
"title": "Gatchina Palace Egg",
"description": "Continuing a practice initiated by his father, Alexander III, Tsar Nicholas II presented this egg to his mother, the dowager empress Marie Fedorovna, on Easter 1901. The egg opens to reveal as a surprise a miniature gold replica of the palace at Gatchina, located 30 miles southwest of St. Petersburg. Built for Count Grigorii Orlov, the palace was acquired by Tsar Paul I and served as the winter residence for Alexander III and Marie Fedorovna.Fabergé's revival of 18th-century enameling techniques, including the application of multiple layers of translucent enamel over \"guilloché,\" or mechanically engraved gold, is demonstrated in the shell of the egg. So meticulously did Fabergé's workmaster, Mikhail Perkhin, execute the palace that one can discern such details as cannons, a flag, a statue of Paul I (1754-1801), and elements of the landscape, including parterres and trees.",
"provenance": "Tsar Nicholas II, St. Petersburg; Dowager Empress Marie Fedorovna, St. Petersburg, April 1, 1901, by gift [retained in Anichkov Palace until 1917]; Alexandre Polovtsoff, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1930, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
"date": "1901",
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Document source extras
{
"med": "gold, \"\"en plein\"\" enamel, silver-gilding, portrait diamonds, rock crystal, and seed pearls",
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}
Page context
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