The winter egg

1. The winter egg

2. Fabergé Eggs is a series of jewelry that was created between 1885 and 1917 for the Russian Imperial family and private buyers. The first egg was ordered from Carl Fabergé in 1885 by Alexander III as a gift to his wife Maria Feodorovna in connection with their twentieth wedding anniversary in November 1886. The Emperor did not insist on a certain design of the future jewelry masterpiece, Carl Fabergé and his artisans were free to choose creative solutions and material, but he had a requirement: the egg should contain a surprise. When the egg was presented, the Empress was so impressed and pleased that Alexander III had no choice but to order another one from Carl Fabergé for Orthodox Easter. Subsequently, Alexander III made an order every year. After the death of Alexander III in November 1894, this tradition was continued by his son Nicholas II, who ordered an Easter gift from Fabergé, not only to his mother, but also to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. In the period from 1885 to 1917, approximately fifty-six eggs were produced for the Imperial family, of which only forty-seven are now well recorded in various private and institutional collections. Soon after the revolution, the contents of the Romanov palaces were confiscated by the Bolsheviks. Most of the Fabergé eggs, along with masses of Imperial gold, silver, jewels and icons were inventoried, packed in crates and taken to the Kremlin Armory. Later, Stalin began trading the Russian Imperial legacy for desperately needed Western currency to support his new regime and now only ten remain in the Kremlin

3. The genius behind a pair of the most celebrated Imperial Easter eggs was Alma Theresia Pihl (1888-1976), one of two women who worked as designers at the House of Fabergé at the beginning of the 20th century. She came from a long line of celebrated artisans employed by Fabergé; her grandfather was head jeweler and her uncle a renowned goldsmith. She was the niece of the other female designer, Hilma Alina Holmström

4. The Winter Egg, Fabergé Work master: Albert Holmstrom, Designer: Alma Pihl 1913 Rock crystal, gold, platinum, chrysolite, diamonds. St Petersburg, 1913 Given by Emperor Nicholas II to his mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna for Easter 1913

5. The egg is 102 mm (4.0 in) high In 2001, the Imperial Winter Egg was sold for a record price ($9,600,000) at the Christie's auction in New York. This is the most original of the surviving Easter eggs holding a surprise made by the firm of Carl Fabergé. It is now in the private collection of the Emir of Qatar

6. The exterior of the egg resembles frost and ice crystals formed on clear glass. It is studded with 1,660 diamonds, and is made from quartz, platinum, and orthoclase Enclosingat the top a cabochon moonstone painted on the reverse with the date 1913

7. The thinly carved transparent body of the egg finely engraved on the interior to simulate ice crystals, the outside further engraved and applied with rose-diamond set platinum motif

9. The egg rests on a block of rock crystal carved to look like melting ice with "rivulets' of diamonds.

11. The surprise is a platinum double-handled trellis work basket, set with rose-diamonds and full of wood anemones, suspended from a platinum hook, each flower realistically carved from a single piece of white quartz with gold wire stem and stamens, the center set with a demantoid garnet, some carved half open or in a bud, the leaves delicately carved in nephrite, emerging from a bed of gold moss, the base of the basket engraved in Roman letters "Fabergé 1913".

12. The miniature surprise flower basket is studded with 1,378 diamonds and is made from platinum and gold, while the wood anemones are made of white quartz. The flowers lie in gold moss.

13. Alma Theresia Pihl, the designer of the Winter Egg, broke away from the conventional elements to produce a magical work of original creative genius

16. The following year, Alma designed the exquisite Mosaic Egg which given to the Tsarina Alexandra. Her mother-in-law's tapestry was the inspiration

18. The Mosaic Egg was a technically challenging project for the master jewelers, led by Albert Holstrom, Alma's uncle. Precious metals such as yellow gold and platinum were used. The pavé set gemstones varied given the colors needed for the petit point look of the design. These included diamonds, rubies, emerald, topaz, half pearls, moonstone as well as enamel. Gold, platinum, enamel, rose and brilliant diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topaz, quartz, sapphires, garnets, moonstone 9.5 x 7.0 cm

20. This beautiful Easter Egg consists of a system of yellow gold belts, to which is applied a platinum network partially pavé-set with diamonds and colored gems, including sapphires, rubies, emeralds, topaz quartz and green garnets in flower patterns. This technique gives the look of petit point tapestry work, partly completed. It is divided into five oval panels set with half-pearls within lines of opaque white enamel. Five brilliant diamonds are set at each intersection.

22. Crafted mainly of platinum, each setting for the stones was painstaking cut out of a platinum sheet by hand to form a mesh. Then, stones were polished and calibrated to fit each individual spot in the egg

23. The artisans cut each of the square holes by hand and each gemstone had to be calibré-cut in such a way that it would perfectly fit into its designated space of approximately 1mm x 1mm

24. The top of the egg is capped with a cabochon moonstone as the finial, underneath is the monogram of the Tsarina.

27. The surprise concealed inside and held in place by two gold clips, consists of a jeweled and enameled miniature frame painted with the profiles of the five Imperial children, surmounted by an Imperial crown set with rose diamonds. The reverse is enameled with a pale sepia basket of flowers around which the year 1914 and the names of the five children.The oval base with vase-shaped white enamel stem is set with rose-cut diamonds, emeralds, and two suspended pearls. The Egg is engraved with Fabergé's name in Cyrillic characters

32. During the dark days following the bloody revolution, the egg would be confiscated by the provisional government. In order to raise fund, the egg would be sold by the Antikvariat in 1933 for 5,000 Roubles. The same year, the egg would find a new home on May 22. It was purchased by King George V from Cameo Corner for £250 (about £16,500 today,) or “half cost” as noted in the ledger. King George likely purchased the egg for Queen Mary’s birthday on May 26. The egg currently resides in the Royal Collection Trust

33. The Nobel Ice Egg, sometimes also referred to as the Snowflake egg, is a jewelledenamelled Fabergé Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé, for the Swedish-Russian oil baron and industrialist Emanuel Nobel between 1913 and 1914.

34. Alma Theresia Pihl-Klee (1888 - 1976) Commissioned by Emanuel Nobel, the Nobel Ice Egg was created in platinum, silver and seed-pearls. It not only stems from the same inspiration as The 1913 Winter Egg, but also shares the same technique in the execution of the hinges within graduated borders

35. The Nobel Ice Egg was designed by Alma Theresia Pihl

36. Like the Winter Egg and the Mosaic Egg, the Nobel Ice Egg was designed by Alma Theresia Pihl. The tragic events of 1917 forced the artist to stop her work and put an end to her brilliant career. The firm of Fabergé and the company where his husband worked, closed their St. Petersburg offices. Most of the workers immediately moved to Finland, but Alma's husband wanted to stay in Russia to look after his property. Subsequently, this decision has repeatedly turned into trouble, i.e. up to serious threats to the life of Nikolai. In an effort to escape from the devastation, hoping to return at least some part of the former quiet life, in the summer of 1921, with the support of Maxim Gorky, Nikolai's regular client, the families of Klee and Holmström managed to get permission to leave Petrograd and move to their native Finland, which by that time has ceased to be a part of the Russian Empire.

37. Twenty-four years she taught fine arts, but none of the wards knew about her past. Until the end of her life, she remained modest and quiet woman for the villagers. No one knew that she was one of the best goldsmiths of her time in her former life and worked for the world famous Carl Fabergé, and she managed to design about two thousand precious products in her short career. In 1948, together with her husband, Alma moved to Helsinki. The only person, to whom the former designer a few years before her death revealed the truth about herself, was her beloved niece Lydia. Alma Theresa Pihl left this world on July 11, 1976 at the age of 87.

38. Today, jewelry masterpieces created according to the sketches of Alma Pihl are estimated at millions of euros and occasionally appear at the world's leading auctions. Sketches in Alma's albums dedicated to the Winter Series and now owned by the company of Wartski give an idea of how great was the power of her talent. Snowflake pendant 60,000 GPB

39. Faberge snowflake design by Alma Pihl Palais Royal Hong Kong

40. A rock crystal Red Cross ‘ice pendant,’ designed by Alma Pihl and made by workmaster Albert Holmström, fetched a mid-estimate CHF50,400

41. Fabergé, a jewelled platinum and rock-crystal pendant, design Alma Pihl Sold 187,800 € A Fabergé platinum, gold and diamond brooch, workmaster Albert Holmström, designed by Alma Pihl

42. A Fabergé snowflake pendant with red cross, designed by Alma Pihl A Fabergé platinum, rock crystal and diamond ice crystal pendant designed by Alma Pihl

43. 1912: Melting Ice Pendant DesignAlma Pihl, Workshop Albert Holmström Provenance the Nobel Family

45. A Fabergé platinum, gold and diamond brooch, workmaster Albert Holmström, designed by Alma Pihl (55,000 €)

46. Snowflake brooch Sold 40,700 €

47. Mosaic Brooch, ca. 1913 Christie’s London, November 29, 2021 (Sold 412, 000 euros)

48. Text & Pictures: Internet All  copyrights  belong to their  respective owners Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanu https://www.slideshare.net/michaelasanda https://ma-planete.com/michaelasanda 2023 Sound:Tarja - You Would Have Loved This; I Walk Alone