Clover Leaf (Fabergé egg)
{{short description|1902 Imperial Fabergé egg}}
{{No footnotes|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox Fabergé egg
| name = Clover Leaf
| image = Cloveregg2.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = The egg on its original Art Nouveau matching stand
| year_delivered = 1902
| made_for = Nicholas II
|recipient=Alexandra Feodorovna
| owner = Kremlin Armoury, Moscow
| acquisition_year = 1933
| workmaster = Michael Perkhin
| materials = Gold, platinum, ruby, diamonds
| height = {{convert|98|mm|in}}
| width =
| surprise_in_egg = Four-leaf clover with twenty-three diamonds, and four miniature portraits (missing)
}}
The Clover Leaf egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1902 for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. It was presented by Nicholas as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. It is currently held in the Kremlin Armoury Museum in Moscow, and it is one of the few imperial Fabergé eggs that were never sold after the Russian Revolution.
Design
The Clover Leaf egg is made of an openwork pattern of stems and leaves of clover forming the shape of an egg. The gaps between the metal outline of the leaves are covered with transparent bright green enamel. A very thin golden ribbon paved with rubies curls through the foliage. At the time, the production of transparent enamel was still a new method, and often suffered from problems while cooling. There are no flaws in the enamel of the Clover Leaf Egg, but it is considered too fragile to travel.
Surprise
The surprise in the egg has been lost but according to archives it was a four-leaf clover with twenty-three diamonds, and four miniature portraits of the four daughters of the Tsar: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wintraecken.nl/mieks/faberge/eggs/1902-Clover-Leaf-Egg.htm|title=Mieks Fabergé Eggs|website=wintraecken.nl}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|last=Faber|first=Toby|title=Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire|publisher=Random House|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4000-6550-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fabergeseggsextr00fabe}}
- {{cite book|authorlink=Christopher Forbes|last1=Forbes|first1=Christopher|first2=Johann Georg |last2=Prinz von Hohenzollern|title=FABERGE; The Imperial Eggs|publisher=Prestel|year=1990|asin=B000YA9GOM}}
- {{cite book|last=Lowes|first=Will|title=Fabergé Eggs: A Retrospective Encyclopedia|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2001|isbn=0-8108-3946-6}}
- {{Cite book|authorlink=Kenneth Snowman|last=Snowman|first=A Kenneth|title=Carl Faberge: Goldsmith to the Imperial Court of Russia|publisher=Gramercy|year=1988|isbn=0-517-40502-4}}
External links
{{Commons Category}}
- [http://www.wintraecken.nl/mieks/faberge/eggs/1902-Clover-Leaf-Egg.htm Description at wintraecken.nl]
{{Fabergé egg}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clover Leaf (Faberge Egg)}}