1898 Pelican Egg
Gift Nicholas
II to Maria Fyodorovna
Made in Saint Petersburg
Owner: Collection Lillian Thomas Pratt,
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, USA
Height: 10,2 cm (with stand: 13,3 cm)
(Image above courtesy Peter Koppers)
The 1898 Pelican Egg is made of red gold, diamonds, pearls, gray, pink and opalescent blue enamel and watercolor on ivory. The stand is made of varicolored gold. The Egg itself unfolds into a screen of eight ivory miniatures.
The Egg is one of the few Eggs that is not enameled over most of its surface. It is made of engraved red gold in the Empire-style, surmounted by a pelican in opalescent gray, blue and pink enamel. The pelican is feeding her young in the nest, a symbol of maternal care. The Egg is engraved with classical motifs, the commemorative dates 1797 - 1897, and the inscription "Visit our vineyards, O Lord, and we shall dwell in thee." *
The Pelican Egg commemorates the centennial celebration of the patronage of charitable institutions by the Dowager Empress of Russia. The institutions, founded mainly for the education of the daughters of the nobility, are depicted on an extending folding screen of eight ivory miniatures, each within a pearl border. The miniatures are painted by court miniaturist Johannes Zehngraf on ovals of ivory. On the back of the miniatures are listed the institutions portrayed.
Courtesy George Terrell
On the photograph above, the back of the miniatures. The "nineth panel" is clearly seen as a "stand" for the unfolded miniatures.
The Egg is supported on a varicolored gold, four-legged stand and retains its original red velvet case, the only time this color was appearently used for a Tsar Imperial Easter Egg-case.
Background information
Because of the dates "1797 and 1897" on the Egg, for many years the Pelican Egg was ascribed to 1897, but the found of the original Fabergé invoice shows that this Egg was presented to Maria Fyodorovna for Easter 1898.
The institutions depicted on the eight oval miniatures are the Xenia Institute, the Nikolai Orphanage, the Patriotic Institute, the Smolny Institute, the Ekaterina Institute, the Pavel Institute, the St. Petersburg Orphanage of Nikolai, and the Elizabeth Institute.
In 1930 The Pelican Egg was one of the ten Eggs sold by the Antikvariat to the Hammer Galleries, New York. Between 1936 and 1938 bought by Lillian Thomas Pratt. 1947 Collection of the late Lillian Thomas Pratt, willed to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, USA.
* March 2010 update. Doing research on this egg I have not been able to verify the original Russian text. I have reasons to believe the Russian text could be tranlated a little different. More later this year. AW
Page updated: April 6, 2010