Caucus Egg
Gold, silver, platinum, enamel, diamonds, pearls, watercolour on ivory; h. 9.2, d. 7.3 cm
by House of Fabergé, Mikhail Perkhin, and Konstantin Krijitski, 1893
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation)
After a photograph by James Petts, 2019

Crafted from a combination of yellow and multicoloured gold with silver accents, the egg has a vibrant body decorated with swags of roses rendered in coloured gold and accented with diamond-set platinum bows. Four ovals with pearl borders flank the sides, each one functioning as a miniature hinged door. Opening these reveals detailed watercolour paintings, depicting scenes from the Abastumani Palace nestled in the Caucasus Mountains. Behind the hinged cover at the top of the egg is a miniature portrait of Grand Duke George Alexandrovich in his naval uniform. This portrait is framed by a large rose-cut diamond, further embellished by a surrounding cluster of smaller diamonds and a delicate laurel wreath. The year of creation, 1893, is written out in diamonds, and encircled by pearl borders, on the four doors, one numeral per door. The egg was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III and presented as an Easter present to his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, serving as a poignant memento of Grand Duke George Alexandrovich's time spent in Abastumani for treatment of tuberculosis. Along with many other Fabergé treasures, this egg went through a tumultuous period dafter the fall of the Romanovs in 1917, finding itself shuffled around various locations in Russia, and eventually becoming part of the collection of the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation. The egg is currently on long-term loan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.