Red Cross Portraits Egg
Silver, gold, enamel, mother-of-pearl, watercolour on ivory, velvet; h. 7.6, d. 6 cm
by House of Fabergé, Henrik Wigström, and Vasilii Zuiev, 1915
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Photograph by Flickr 7608165@N06, 2011

This egg is crafted from silver and gold, with a white guilloché enamel, and is divided into five bands, each with a different pattern. Two red enamel crosses adorn the sides within the central band, one bearing the year 1914, and the other, 1915. These crosses are accompanied by a gilded Old Slavonic inscription that translates to 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends', from John 15:13. The Dowager Empress' crowned Cyrillic monogram in silver adorns the top of the egg, whilst at the opposite end appears a six-petal rosette. The surprise contained in the velvet-lined interior of this egg is a folding screen of opalescent white enamel mounted in gold, displaying miniature portraits of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, and her four daughters. All are dressed in the garb of the Sisters of Mercy, a Red Cross nursing order. The reverse of each portrait of mother-of-pearl, with the monogram of the subject. Nicholas II gave this egg to his mother as a tribute to her work with the Russian Red Cross.