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Fabergé
Collection Fact Sheet
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FULL NAME:
The Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of Russian Imperial Jewels by
Peter Carl Fabergé.
IMPORTANCE:
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' Pratt collection includes the
largest public assemblage of Fabergé imperial Easter eggs outside
Russia. The full Pratt collection numbers approximately 150 creations
from the Fabergé workshops.
DONOR:
The collection was formed between 1933 and 1946 by Lillian Thomas
Pratt of Fredericksburg, Va., the wife of General Motors executive
John Lee Pratt. In 1947 she bequeathed several hundred pieces of
Russian art, many from the Fabergé workshops, to VMFA.
JEWELER:
Peter Carl Fabergé, born the son of a jeweler in St. Petersburg
in 1846, was named goldsmith and jeweler to the Russian court in
the mid-1880s. Czar Alexander III proposed the creation of an elaborate
Easter egg to be presented to the czarina in 1885. Such special
eggs became an Easter tradition throughout Alexander's reign and
that of his son and successor, Nicholas II. Fifty imperial eggs
are known to have been fashioned before the fall of the house of
Romanov in 1917. Five, all from Nicholas' reign, are in the Pratt
collection. Fabergé fled Russia in 1918, after his firm was
closed by the Bolsheviks; he died in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1920.
IMPERIAL EGGS:
1896 REVOLVING MINIATURES EGG
Presented to Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna in the year of Nicholas'
coronation, its two halves, made of rock crystal, are joined by
a diamond-set band and placed on an enamel and rock crystal base.
The egg is topped by a 26-carat Siberian cabochon emerald. The rock
crystal globe contains miniature paintings of royal residences.
1897 PELICAN EGG
A gift from Nicholas to his mother, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna,
the 4-inch-tall egg made of red gold is surmounted by a enameled
and diamond-studded pelican feeding its young. The egg unfolds to
disclose eight pearl-encircled oval panels, each depicting an institution
of which the dowager empress was a patron.
1903 PETER THE GREAT EGG
Presented by Nicholas to the czarina, this egg is made of red,
yellow and green gold and platinum and is set with diamonds and
rubies. Miniatures of Peter the Great and Nicholas and two views,
of the Winter Palace and a hut Peter himself built, adorn the sides.
When the top is opened, a tiny bronze replica of a 1782 statue of
Peter the Great by the French sculptor Falconet arises from inside.
1912 CZAREVITCH EGG
Another gift to the czarina, the 1912 egg is a fantasy of lapis
lazuli and gold tracery, topped by an inset diamond. Concealed inside
the egg is a removable platinum double-headed eagle, set with rose
diamonds, on a lapis lazuli base. This "surprise" serves
as a frame for a portrait miniature of the 7-year-old Czarevitch
Alexis in a sailor suit.
1915 RED CROSS
EGG
Czar Nicholas' mother was the recipient of the most recent egg in
the Pratt collection. Made of white opalescent enamel with a scarlet
cross on each side, it is a tribute to Marie Feodorovna's presidency
of the Russian Red Cross. Inside are portrait miniatures of Romanov
family members dressed in the Red Cross uniform. Encircling the
egg is an inscription in Russian: "Greater love hath no man
than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Suzanne Hall, 804/204-2704; or Sarah Pennington, 804/204-2701; Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond VA 23220-4007; FAX
804/204-2707; e-mail suzanne.hall@vmfa.museum.
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CAPTION: This
montage is of the five Fabergé imperial Easter eggs given to the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1947 by Lillian Thomas Pratt. (Photos
by Katherine Wetzel, © 2003 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)
CAPTION: The
Imperial Czarevitch Easter Egg, 1912, is made of lapis lazuli, gold
and diamonds and includes a diamond-encrusted miniature frame inside
with a portrait of the young son of Nicholas II. (Photo by Katherine
Wetzel, © 2003 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)
CAPTION: The
Imperial Czarevitch Easter Egg (detail), 1912, is made of lapis
lazuli, gold and diamonds and includes a diamond-encrusted miniature
frame inside
with a portrait of the young son of Nicholas II. (Photo by Katherine
Wetzel, © 2003 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)
CAPTION: Peter
Carl Fabergé (Russian, 1846-1920)
Imperial Pelican Easter Egg, 1898
Egg: red gold, diamonds, enamel, pearls
Miniature folding panels: watercolor, ivory
4" H x 2 1/8"
Photo: Katherine Wetzel, © 2003 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
CAPTION: Peter
Carl Fabergé (Russian, 1846-1920)
Imperial Peter the Great Easter Egg, 1903
Egg: gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies, enamel, sapphire, watercolor,
ivory, rock crystal
Statue: gold, sapphire
Egg: 4 3/8"H x 3 3/4"W
Statue: 1 9/16”H
Photo: Katherine Wetzel, © 2003 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
CAPTION: PETER
CARL FABERGÉ (1846-1920)
Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg, 1915
Egg: enamel, silver, gold
Screen: enamel, gold, mother-of-pearl, watercolor, ivory
3”H x 2 3/8”W
Photo: Katherine Wetzel © 2003 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
CAPTION: PETER
CARL FABERGÉ (1846-1920)
Imperial Revolving Miniatures Easter Egg, 1896
Head Workmaster: Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin (1860-1903)
Miniaturist: Johannes Zehngraf (1857-1908)
Egg: rock crystal, diamonds, gold, enamel, cabochon emerald
Miniatures: watercolor, ivory
9-3/4"H x 3 7/8"W
Photo: Katherine Wetzel, © 2003 VMFA
CAPTION: Julien
Binford (American, 1908-1997)
"Portrait of Lillian Thomas Pratt"
Oil on canvas
48-1/4 "H x 34-1/4" W
Photo © 2009 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
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