Thursday, 23rd June 2005 (3050 views)

A number of exquisite Faberge eggs once exchanged as gifts by members of the Russian royal family are on display in Berlin.

The German city's Charlottenburg palace is the setting for the exhibition, which features 15 decorative eggs, nine of which were specially made for the Romanovs by Peter Carl Faberge in his St Petersburg workshop.

Given by Czar Nicholas the Second to his wife, the Empress Alexandra, the Coronation egg features a tiny replica of Alexandra's royal coach rendered in gold, platinum and enamel, tucked inside the five-inch-high egg.

Organisers of the exhibition, which runs until September, have valued the egg at US $24 million (£13.2 million).

Other gems, many of which are gilded with gold on the shell or interior, include the art nouveau Lilies of the Valley egg, also given by Nicholas to Alexandra, and the Cuckoo egg, featuring a tiny clock inlaid with pearls and diamonds.

The exhibited eggs belong to a foundation owned by Russian entrepreneur Viktor Vekselberg, who bought the Faberge collection of the late publisher Malcolm Forbes last year in order to repatriate the items.

 

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