Google pays tribute to the legacy of Fabergé today on his 166th birthday. I first came across the beautiful Fabergé eggs when I was about seven, in my history phase. I would find books and videos about the Titanic disaster, the World Wars, the Ancient Roman civilisation, and many other events; but one the things I loved to research most was royalty. Marie Antoinette, Queen Victoria, and Cleopatra were a few of my favourites, and Anastasia.
Fabergé eggs were created by a Russian jeweller named Peter Carl Fabergé, inspired by Easter eggs, but made with gold and precious jewels; valued for their intricate detail as opposed to carat weightage. Peter Carl Fabergé inherited his father Gustav's jewellery firm House of Fabergé in 1870, when he was only twenty-four. Although the company had been founded in 1842, it wasn't until Peter took over that it became famous. He designed for an elite and aristocratic clientele including the Tsar and the Imperial Court of Russia, Anastasia's family.
The first Fabergé egg was commissioned in 1885 by Tsar Alexander III as a gift to his wife, Empress Maria Fedorovna. So impressed by the delicacy and craftsmanship of the creation, the royal family continued to commission a Fabergé egg every Easter, each containing a mysterious and elaborate surprise. And Peter Carl Fabergé was named ‘Goldsmith by special appointment to the Imperial Crown’. After the passing of Alexander III, his son continued the tradition, gifting Fabergé eggs to his mother now the Dowager Empress, and to his wife, Empress Alexandra Fedorovna.
