Alexander III Commemorative Egg
Platinum, gold, enamel, diamonds, and lapis lazuli; height c. 9.5 cm
by House of Fabergé, and possibly Henrik Wigström, 1909
Whereabouts unknown

This is a lost egg commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, it was presented to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the death of Tsar Alexander III. It was made in a matte white enamel, adorned with gold lines, and segmented into five vertical sections with diamonds in the form of vertical lines of laurel leaves. Flowers, ribbons, baskets and stars of Bethlehem set in diamonds decorate the various areas. The surprise is a miniature golden bust of Tsar Alexander III resting on a lapis lazuli pedestal, embellished with rose-cut diamonds, though there is currently no known picture of the miniature. The fate of the egg remains a mystery. The egg's trail disappears after it was documented in a 1922 Kremlin inventory. Some theories suggest it was sold by the new Soviet government to raise funds, while others believe it was lost in the chaos following the Russian Revolution. Since it wasn't listed in Bolshevik inventories, it's possible the egg vanished before they came to power. Whether it ended up in private hands or was destroyed during the looting of the royal palaces is unknown.