Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg

Magnet #1314 - Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg

Oh, yes. I still have several Faberge egg magnets left. And I love. them. all.

I just want one egg. The more I wear my own cobalt-blue "made by a real, live Russian" (seriously, that's how they billed it) Fauxberge hummingbird egg with the odd little angel as the surprise, the more I'm convinced I should buy a real one. Now, I just need all that disposable income.

This Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg from the VMFA collection was designed by one of the Faberge workmasters, Henrik Wigström, in 1915. It's made of silver, enamel, gold, mother-of-pearl, and watercolor on ivory. The surprise inside were miniature portraits painted on ivory of the women in Tsar Nicholas' life, the women of the House of Romanov - his sister, his daughters, and his cousin - who also served with the Red Cross.

Check out the below vid, seen up close the workmanship is just amazing.

How can a chick be bigger than a chicken?

Magnet #1283 - Faberge rooster

Yeah, remember how I said VMFA's Faberge Revealed visitors were sparse yesterday? They were, but there were a few kids running around the exhibit halls, too.

Kids don't really bother me at all...unless they're unruly, or loud, or just spoiled. These kids weren't bad. But apparently, one was just talkative. Or maybe just inquisitive?

I didn't hear her, but they drove Save the World Couple insane with the rat-tat-tat questioning of "How can a chick be bigger than a chicken? How can a chick be bigger than a chicken?" Which is what she asked when she saw this chicken (rooster?) in the display case...because apparently, there was a chick that was...all together now, bigger than the chicken (really, it's a rooster).

Hahaha. Yep. Part of the charm of museums, you never know who you'll meet there.

Anyway, it's Save the World Sister's birthday today, so yay, happy fun trip to Richmond in a hurricane for a milestone birthday. Yay!

Fancy eggs in a hurricane

Magnet #1282 - Imperial Tsesarevich Easter Egg

We all made it to Richmond!

We all got to see the Faberge exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts!

Annnnnd, that's about all we got to do today.

The Irene rain hit Richmond pretty hard, starting late Friday and continuing on through today. When I say rain, I mean sheets. Going horizontally. But, we holed up in our comfy aloft hotel with our HDMI cord and laptop, some silly movies, and managed to make the best of it.

The endgame for me in Richmond was seeing VMFA's Faberge Revealed exhibit, showing off the largest collection of Faberge in the States. If you've read this blog at all, you know one of my many fascinations are Faberge eggs. This exhibit did not let me down.

First, because it was the middle of a hurricane, visitors were sparse. You could actually breathe, extend both arms and not hit anyone, and best of all, you could take your time. So. Terrific.

Second, hello. It was a really well-done exhibit. And, they had five of the 13 eggs here in the States on view. And, a great audioguide to accompany me through the exhibit. One had me sniffling, I swear the guard was chuckling at me.

Third, dear me, the VMFA must have been paying attention in the year since I've been there, because my goodness the amount of magnets was staggering. I spent way too much in their shop, buying every single magnet, plus a gorgeous Fauberge egg necklace (made by a "real-live Russian!" *eyeroll*) Still, it was A. Maz. ING.

This egg was particularly cool because it houses a Russian double-headed Imperial eagle frame with a double-sided mini-portrait of Tsesarevich Alexei, the son of Nicholas and Alexandra. He was a hemophiliac, something he inherited from his grandmother, Queen Victoria of England, and so was a sickly child. He had a couple of close calls and Faberge made this egg for Alexandra as a tribute to her beloved son.

VMFA, you are truly one of my favorite museums, thank you for staying open and braving Hurricane Irene!

Wanderlust

Magnet #1230 - El Salvador native

Another cool magnet from my sister's trip to El Salvador. Pretty cool - can't tell what it's made of, but it took me a sec to see the El Salvador written on at the top.

I've never been south of the American border...generally when I plan trips, it's usually the US or Europe. And, true to form, my next couple of trips are already in planning development.

My next trip to...wait for it...London, sometime at the end of this year, or early next - I'm trying to avoid the Olympics if I'm honest. I mean, I volunteered for the NYC2012 folks, so I was sad when London won it away from us. But, now I'm finding that I really don't want to be anywhere near London in and around the Olympics. Is that wrong? (Yes, I know I just got back from London, but I'm looking forward to a quick solo trip to my second favorite city in the world.)

And, my other next trip I keep thinking about is my trip to Russia. This one's likely going to be 2012 or even 2013 - I keep feeling like at some point in my life I need to see the Hermitage and Alexandra Palace and yes, my Faberge eggs. But, that trip's going to have to be longer than a random few days in London, hence the longer lead time, for both saving up, and for research.

Can't wait! Need to get more magnets of places I've been, rather than from far away places I haven't!

300

Magnet #879 - Romanov Tercentenary Faberge Egg

This Faberge egg for the Romanov Tercentenary, was gifted by Nicholas II to his wife Alexandra, in honor of 300 years of Romanov rule, which started started in 1613 with Michael, and ended with the execution of the Romanov family in 1918. Very sad.

But the egg itself is gorgeous (aren't they all), and made from gold and silver, diamonds and more diamonds, turquoise and enamel. It's dotted with 18 little watercolor portraits of the Romanov line, which included the likes of Catherine the Great.

But the pretty prize inside is a little blue enamel and gold globe that rotates (!!!!) and shows the territories they ruled in 1613 on one side, and what they ruled in 1913.

The fact that the globe rotates (!!!!) seriously just makes me want to touch it. Like, I just want to play with these eggs. It also makes me wonder if the Romanov kids were allowed to mess around the eggs just sitting on the shelves at home. Cuz, hi, that would be superawesome. Go long, Tsarevich Alexei, go long!!!

Anyway, I picked this egg today, because of two reasons. First, because last night's Lie to Me, had a Faberge-like egg that was part of a robbery, and people were getting beat up for it, and to my knowledge, even to the end, never even acknowledged what the egg was.

And, second, because I wanted to report back about the happiest place inside the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Faberge room, which was kind of like a Faberge egg itself - small in size, but with absolute treasures inside.

It was a pretty small and unassuming room, off to the side. But as you step in, you see there are several display windows just chockful of Faberge decorative pieces. Remember, they have the largest amassed collection of Faberge outside Russia. So they had the six eggs in their collections, plus a bunch of baby eggs, umbrella handles, picture frames and other doodads belonging to the Romanov family.

Quite an amazing collection. I wish I'd had more time to explore it, but who knows, maybe one day, I'll exit off of I-95 to visit them again. Although, at this point, the more I visit the Kremlin website for more information, the more I really want to visit.

I will say, I was quite disappointed that the gift shop didn't have any egg magnets. They had egg card holders, though totally out of my price range, what with the semi-precious stones and all, but no egg magnets?

Hmph.

Stop to smell the roses

Magnet #759 - Faberge's Bouquet of Lilies Clock

And the lilies, so it seems.

Sigh. Here's another one sitting in the Armoury Museum of the Kremlin in Moscow, just waiting for me to visit.

You know I love my Faberge eggs - this one's the Bouquet of Lilies Clock, also known as the Madonna Lily Clock Egg.

It was produced in 1899, and is pretty sizable at just under a foot tall, and is made of golf, diamonds, platinum, white and yellow enamel, and white chalcedony. Dudes, I don't even know what chalcedony is, but it just sounds pretty.

As is the custom with all of my eggs, it's a unique combination of flower symbols with its meanings of love (roses) and purity (lilies). Add in the ornate curlicues toward the bottom, which signify flames, and you have a strong representation of familial love.

The detail is astounding with the flowers and their small diamonds and the leaves and stems tinted with gold. I bet it's amazing to see up close!

Actually, based on my limited viewings, they all seem to be unbelievable up close and personal. Plus, the thing I always forget with these eggs is that their opulence is in a direct contrast with a nation and people in deep trouble at the time.

Goodness. I know need to visit Moscow, at some point.

I miss having our little Forbes stash of eggs down the street! Of course, right now, all I can see when I see this superpretty magnet, is that the egg's off center! But pay that no never mind. Heh.

I really picked this for today, because it's April First, and I wanted something gorgeous to match what I was told was a beautiful day outside.

Happy April, folks!

I'm looking over, a four-leaf clover

Magnet #612 - Fabergé Egg #4, Imperial Clover Egg

Yes, I'm writing this magnetblog as I'm watching U2's live streaming U 2ube concert. Good concert, actually.

I'm not even a giant U2 fan - I just like the idea of a live streaming concert around the world that everyone's watching online right now, that everyone's Tweeting about.

Plus, I like that they snaked the YouTube logo and made it U 2ube...and I like that Bono told The Edge that the concert would be on YouTube..."on Google." I dunno why that tickles me. And that Bono thanked their latest corporate sponsor Google. Heh. Check.

I can't wait to see the traffic numbers for the concert - worldwide. It's bound to be astronomical, though I wonder if it'll be a real source of revenue for them. @TVMoJoe Tweeted an article from The Wrap about how they're slow to show a profit on this tour, and it's fairly interesting to see how ticket sales are going. Particularly when half my FB newfeeds consist of my friends going to different US concerts.

But, back to my clovers. I totally admit using this particularly one is way cheesy - stereotypical, even. But even though I've been to Ireland - I don't have a second magnet from there!

So at my new love, the Clearance Store at the Met, I picked up the best find ever in that store - Susanna Pfeffer's Fabergé Eggs: Masterpieces from Czarist Russia. Half price!

Dudes, I freakin love this book. It goes through the whole series of eggs, with beautiful full-bleed beauty shots of each egg and their surprises! Really gorgeously done. You'd be surprised how much cooler this egg looks on a green background. Heh.

This Imperial Clover Egg was thought to have been given by Nicholas II to Alexandra in 1902, and is a beribboned bunch of three-petaled clovers made from a treasure trove of gold, diamonds, and rubies. Crazy beautiful. The surprise inside has been lost to history, but I'm gonna go with a four-leaf clover ring or brooch. Made of emeralds and diamonds and gold.

Yes. I just made that up. And I'm sticking with that.

Egg on the cheap

Magnet #444 - Faberge Egg #3, 1916 Steel Military Egg

The Internet's amazing. But, it's such a double-edged sword. You can find out copious amounts of information out there, but for a lot of it, you can't tell what the original source for any story is anymore.

Take for example, this Faberge egg from my magnet set. I pulled up three different sites - one not updated since 2001, another one from a random Faberge expert site, and the last from PBS.

All of them have the same information - in some cases, the same exact wording - but, none cited the other, or any other sites. Bizarre.

So, here I am, trying to tell you about this Faberge egg, but have only the three above sites to refer to. Consider them cited, but use this one for what seems to be the full story about this particular supercool egg.

Actually, there's a couple of cool stories about it. To put it in context, it's 1916, the midst of World War I. Russia was in turmoil, and at that point, Faberge's workshop was actually closed, because his craftsmen were off fighting. Materials were scarce, indeed, no way were jewelers allowed to work with precious metals. And, if you think about it - these fabulous eggs were most likely the height of disposable income.

But, Nicholas II wanted his egg for Alexandra, and so he asked for it to be made, and Faberge did the best he could with what he had, using bits of gold, steel, silk, velvet and a cheaper form of jade. The steel egg sits atop four steel artillery shells - which is a little discomfiting, seeing something so gorgeous and precious on top of four somethings so destructive. But, it's quite a strong piece, even in its lack of usual Faberge flash and dash.

The surprise inside is a miniature painting on ivory of Nicholas II and his son leading the troops at the front. There's like a whole story about how Nicholas replaced his cousin at the front, and how he got the Order of the St. George cross, which is also included on the easel of painting.

Alexandra was so enamored by the piece, she sent Nicholas one of her only happy telegrams, basically saying Thanks for the egg! Apparently, it's one of only 10 Imperial eggs that didn't get sold off - it's in the possession of the Kremlin Armory in Moscow.

Huh. I wonder if they give tours.

Totally Tsar-rific

Magnet #305 - Fabergé Egg #2, Equestrian Egg

So, I mentioned before that I love Fabergé eggs.

This one's the Alexander III Equestrian Monument Egg, as near as I can tell. The colors are a bit off, but all the design elements are there, so it must be the right name. It was made in 1910, of gold, platinum, diamonds, lapis lazuli and rock crystal.

Last week, I finally got to go back to one of my favorite museums ever - the Victoria & Albert, one of the grandest museums devoted to art and design in the world. It was established in 1852, the year after the Great Exhibition.

One of their special exhibits is the Magnificence of the Tsars, and while it was a gorgeous exhibit, I was saddened by the lack of Fabergé Eggs (and therefore, lack of cool Fabergé Egg magnets). Instead, they sort of went the cheesy route, selling the matryoshka doll magnets, which of course I bought. Honestly, I just wanted one or two eggs to have been included.

But, there were several pieces included in the exhibit that were astounding - according to the older design students and designers that were fairly a-twitter over the cases. I was enjoying their reactions - in between waiting for them to read every sign. (Something that usually people are waiting on me to finish doing).

One of the coolest things they had (besides the undergarments and the lush overcoats) was the coronation-wear. Amazing. So beautifully designed, with detailing that would blow you away. Simply gorgeous.

Well, if you can get around the fact that almost 2,700 ermines gave their lives for just this one coronation mantle. I've never been particularly save the world-y, but dudes, they made three identical ones for the emperor, empress and the dowager empress - that's more than 8,000 cute as buttons ermines!

Now there's a part of me that thinks maybe PETA was behind the Revolution.

There's a surprise inside every...egg

Magnet #104 - Fabergé Egg #1, Moscow Kremlin

You don't know this yet, but I also have a thing for Fabergé eggs. I love them. I want one of my very own. I don't suppose anyone has a spare they can give me, do they? No, I suppose not. That's ok, I have one of those magnet sets of 10 eggs that I got at the Bellagio's Treasures from the Kremlin exhibit many years ago.

Once, at a do on the Forbes yacht, rather than networking, I had a whale of a time tucked away reading one of their massive self-published, cloth hard-backed tomes on the eggs - both in their collection and not. I used to visit their nine-egg collection all the time at the awesome Forbes Gallery. Well, that is until Steve Forbes decided that the collection should go back to its motherland. Sad for me.

The last egg was produced back in 1917, and apparently there are now plans to revive them. Not sure how I feel about that.

This one's the Moscow Kremlin, or the Uspenski Cathedral Egg. There's always a secret fun thing inside each egg, and this one's no different - apparently, you can open it up to see the inside of the Cathedral... and, it's a music box, that sings hymns. There's a whole story about the egg, about how it's important, because this cathedral is where all the Tsars were crowned, and how the presentation of the egg was delayed a few years because of political issues, but that's more than one little magnet should explain. But, the full story's here.

Just enjoy the pretty, because I swear, the design on these things are so damned intricate, it's like Fabergé had tiny fairies to actually manufacture them! Twould be fitting, since honestly, these eggs are like bits of magic when you see them up close.