Robert_Hall:
Probably the best & most recent book on the eggs is: Lowes & McCanless, FABERGE EGGS, A RETRO. ENCYC.
2001. [also one of the most expensive, you could try a library]
There were no eggs presented in either 1904 or 1905. I think war & civil unrest might have made it inappropriate.
I have 15 books on the subject and there are some illustrations of the lost eggs, as the original paperwork is found.
None list a "hoof egg". Where did you hear of it? Perhaps Nick Nicholson knows of it, but I doubt very much it is an Imperial egg presented by the Emperors.
Perhaps it's proper name is something else?
Best,
Robert
darkannex:
Wow, thanks so much for the replies. I have heard of that book, the Encyclopedia, and did try to order it, but the provider did not come through. I shall have to try again.
The "hoof egg" is listed in the book "Masterpieces from the House of Faberge" Page 186, right under the rabbit egg. I do not believe that it is an imperial egg, but am not sure.
The entry for it is as follows:
Hoof Egg: Perchin: 1886-99
Bowenite, red gold, diamongs, rubies, pearls. 3 1/4 in /83 mm. Open. The miniture is of Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna. FAB66003
Miamia:
Oooh, those eggs again. I once tried to get them in the right timeline but with these sources it's impossible. Happy to see that somebody else has gotten in the same trap.
Wasn't the Hoof Egg supposed to be a gift from the Czarina to a friend so that it isn't listed as an imperial egg (which is an egg made by Fabergé and given inside the imperial family). The Hoof Egg was part of the Forbes Collection so that's going back to Russia now...
Hoof Egg:
http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fab/fab75.htmlIt is a bit confusing to read the list by Darkannex because there are too many eggs for my bird brain and some of the eggs are known by more than one name.
I wonder where the Resurrection Egg got lost from the list?
I also got the impression that the Basket of Wild Flowers Egg (1901) was made by Boucheron. It looks a bit different in style - more naturalistic than the rest of the Fabergé eggs.
And the Spring Flowers Egg (former Forbes Collection) was missing from the list.
Basket of Wild Flowers:
http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fab/wild.jpgAnd all those commemorative eggs. I'm getting dizzy again...
wink How did the Alexander II commemorative egg look like ??
Faberge, confusing ??? Slightly, perhaps.
[that is putting it mildly].
The ressurection & Spring flower eggs are listed by MaCanless [I use this as the latest referrence] as eggs given to the Empress Dowager by other members of the family. i.e not her son the Emperor.
I have not gone through all of my Faberge books, but the few I have checked do not come up with the "hoof egg'. I wish Nick Nicholson would drop by here, I am sure he would know what it is.
There is some old Russian tale, I think, about a hoof of some sort. I just saw it in passing so I do not know the story. However, Faberge did use Russian folklore as inspiration in a lot of his works I think.
Cheers.
Robert
darkannex
Newbie
Meep! Posts: 7
Re: Timeline of the Imperial eggs:
Thanks you for the info on the hoof egg (aka friendship egg) A big problem I ran in to was with exactly what you said, the different names they are called by.
The resurrection and the wildflowers were not listed in the few lists that I used, although I cannot claim that I use the latest resources. Not much to be said on a low-income family XD I can't buy all the newest toys right away!
Robert_Hall
Velikye Knyaz
a site. Posts: 5681
Re: Timeline of the Imperial eggs:
That Resurrection egg has caused more confusion...It is listed now as an "Imperial" but not "Tsar Imperial" egge.
If you can follow: gifts toi the Emp. Dowager, by Faberge, but not from either Emperor. Same with "Spring Flower Egg". Several others thought to be IF eggs have proven to be for Kelch or others [Noble, Youssoupoff, Malbourough, etc]. Also, I could be missing something, but I do not find any egg listed for Alex. II, only some for Alex.III.
A note about the Andrekoymansky site. The pictures are quite nice, but the order & information is faulty. If you go further into their website, you will notice that Faberge is not their main interest anyway. Not sure what the connection is, unless they are Faberge hobbyists like.
Cheers,
Robert
darkannex
Newbie
Meep! Posts: 7
Re: Timeline of the Imperial eggs:
Interesting...so there are now two classifications of the Imperial eggs?
The so called Imperial Eggs -- given by Faberge to the Imperials... and the "Tsar" Imperial eggs, given by the Tsar to either wife or mother?
Are there any other distinctions of which egg would be which?
There is a mention of an Alexander II commemorative egg...but I don't think... there was any data found on it. I have it dated 1909....not sure if that helps at all.
Robert_Hall
Velikye Knyaz
a site. Posts: 5681
Re: Timeline of the Imperial eggs:
The 1909 Alex. egg was a Commeorative of Alex III for the Dowager. [now lost].
Yes, 3 categories of eggs- Tsar Imperial, given by the Emperor to his wife/mother
Imperial, given by "other" Romanovs to the Dowager Empress and those commissioned by others-not imperial. Naturally, the "Tsar Imperial" eggs are the ones that attract the most interest.
As far as I know, this is the latest calssification.
According to my sloppy arithmatic, I think there are/were 54 Tsar Imperail eggs [ 1 each from 1885-1894, then 2 each until 1917-minus 1904-05]. The last 2 [1917] never being finished or presented. It gets mind-numbing subtracting the missing Tsar Imperials and the ones once thought to be "tsar Imperials" to come up with how many have actually been accounted for !
Cheers,
Robert
ndo954
Graf
I love YaBB 1G - SP1! Posts: 290
Re: Timeline of the Imperial eggs:
THE HOOF EGG is in the Post Collection at the Hillwood museum and for a long time it was beleived to be part of the Imeprial Collection. I suspect because of the mini of Alex in it. It is sometimes listed as being given to her but I understand that the provenance on a lot of the eggs have chacnged recently.
Newbie
I love YaBB 1G - SP1! Posts: 88
Re: Timeline of the Imperial eggs:
I think a better choice for the 1917 egg to the Dowager Empress, in spite of the admittedly faulty paper record, record would be the so-called "Gate" egg in Lapis, (surprise is missing). Also, the great clock egg intended in 1917 for the Empress Alexandra has been found in Moscow, however in a state of ruin. I believe the Russians might attempt to restore this particular Egg. It would be a marvel to see it as Faberge had planned.
Miek
Newbie
Posts: 30
Re: Timeline of the Imperial eggs:
Hi Storm,
Dont know yet how to post individual pictures, but here http://www.mieks.com/Faberge/1917-Blue-Constellation-Egg.htm you can see the egg finished, end of the page.
It makes me feel sad and wish they het left it unfinished.
rgds,
Miek
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