The Romanov Tercentenary egg /Трёхсотлетие дома Романовых/ was made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1913, for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. The Fabergé egg was presented by Nicolas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna.
The Romanov Tercentenary egg is made of gold, silver, rose-cut and portrait diamonds, turquoise, purpurine, rock crystal, Vitreous enamel and watercolor painting on ivory. It is 190 mm in height and 78 mm in diameter. The egg celebrates the Tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty, three hundred years of Romanov rule from 1613 to 1913. The outside contains eighteen portraits of the Romanov Tsars of Russia. The egg is decorated in a chased gold pattern with double-headed eagles as well as past and present Romanov crowns which frame the portraits of the Tsars. Each miniature portrait, painted by miniaturist Vassily Zuiev, is on ivory and is bordered by rose-cut diamonds. The inside of the egg is opalescent white enamel. Among the 18 rulers represented are Michael, the first of the Romanov dynasty in 1613, as well as Peter the Great (1682–1725), Catherine the Great (1762–1796), and Nicholas II himself as the final Tsar in 1913.
The base for the egg is a miniature copy of the State Shield, which was part of the royal regalia from the end of the 17th century and is kept in the Moscow Kremlin Museums. The shield itself is made of wood, covered with red velvet and decorated with decorative overlays of jade and rock crystal, inlaid with precious stones and enamels. The craftsmen of the Faberge firm made a copy of the shield from bright red purple glass. The sparkles of the internal inclusions in the glass convey the iridescent surface of the red velvet well. The stand for the egg, made of gilded silver, has the appearance of a three-sided heraldic eagle with a scepter and orb in its claws. The top and bottom of the egg are decorated with large flat diamonds, under which the dates "1613" and "1913" (on top) and the Empress's monogram (on the bottom) are inscribed in niello on silver foil. The decoration of the egg itself is particularly magnificent: its golden "shell" is decorated with white iridescent enamel on guilloche and covered with a gold chased net with relief images of royal crowns, crowns and double-headed eagles, each detail of which is distinguished by exceptional delicacy and purity of execution. The jewelers of the workshop of G. Wigstrom brilliantly used a decorative technique called cagework by specialists - a frame, net, lattice.
The surprise is a rotating detailed globe made of dark blue enamel, varicolored gold and steel. The globe portrays one hemisphere showing Russian territory under Tsar Michael in 1613, and on the opposite side the Russian territory under Nicholas II in 1913. The dark blue enamel colors areas of the ocean while landmasses are portrayed in colored golds.
In 1917, the Romanov Tercentenary Egg was confiscated by the Provisional Government during the Russian Revolution, along with many other Imperial treasures. It was transported from the Anichkov Palace to the Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, where it remained.
The Romanov Tercentenary egg is made of gold, silver, rose-cut and portrait diamonds, turquoise, purpurine, rock crystal, Vitreous enamel and watercolor painting on ivory. It is 190 mm in height and 78 mm in diameter. The egg celebrates the Tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty, three hundred years of Romanov rule from 1613 to 1913. The outside contains eighteen portraits of the Romanov Tsars of Russia. The egg is decorated in a chased gold pattern with double-headed eagles as well as past and present Romanov crowns which frame the portraits of the Tsars. Each miniature portrait, painted by miniaturist Vassily Zuiev, is on ivory and is bordered by rose-cut diamonds. The inside of the egg is opalescent white enamel. Among the 18 rulers represented are Michael, the first of the Romanov dynasty in 1613, as well as Peter the Great (1682–1725), Catherine the Great (1762–1796), and Nicholas II himself as the final Tsar in 1913.
The base for the egg is a miniature copy of the State Shield, which was part of the royal regalia from the end of the 17th century and is kept in the Moscow Kremlin Museums. The shield itself is made of wood, covered with red velvet and decorated with decorative overlays of jade and rock crystal, inlaid with precious stones and enamels. The craftsmen of the Faberge firm made a copy of the shield from bright red purple glass. The sparkles of the internal inclusions in the glass convey the iridescent surface of the red velvet well. The stand for the egg, made of gilded silver, has the appearance of a three-sided heraldic eagle with a scepter and orb in its claws. The top and bottom of the egg are decorated with large flat diamonds, under which the dates "1613" and "1913" (on top) and the Empress's monogram (on the bottom) are inscribed in niello on silver foil. The decoration of the egg itself is particularly magnificent: its golden "shell" is decorated with white iridescent enamel on guilloche and covered with a gold chased net with relief images of royal crowns, crowns and double-headed eagles, each detail of which is distinguished by exceptional delicacy and purity of execution. The jewelers of the workshop of G. Wigstrom brilliantly used a decorative technique called cagework by specialists - a frame, net, lattice.
The surprise is a rotating detailed globe made of dark blue enamel, varicolored gold and steel. The globe portrays one hemisphere showing Russian territory under Tsar Michael in 1613, and on the opposite side the Russian territory under Nicholas II in 1913. The dark blue enamel colors areas of the ocean while landmasses are portrayed in colored golds.
In 1917, the Romanov Tercentenary Egg was confiscated by the Provisional Government during the Russian Revolution, along with many other Imperial treasures. It was transported from the Anichkov Palace to the Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, where it remained.