Easter egg, yellow gold and jewelled enamel, 12 panels of translucent pink and opaque guilloché enamel with blue ribbon moss agate and rose and foliate motifs, set with rose diamonds; Mrs Kelch's initials under portrait diamond.

In 1898 Alexander Kelch, a wealthy Russian of noble birth involved in mining enterprises in Siberia, commissioned a series of seven Easter eggs from Fabergé which were as lavish as those made for the imperial family. In early documentation four of the seven eggs were thought to be missing imperial eggs, but that was discounted when original invoices for the imperial eggs came to light. All seven of the Kelch eggs were made in the workshop of Michael Perchin. This egg is the second of the series and bears the initials of Kelch’s wife Barbara under a portrait diamond at the top and the date 1899 at the bottom. The egg is divided into 12 translucent pink and enamel panels, decorated with ribbon and foliate motifs in blue, with chased gold borders overlaid with enamel roses. A similar method of dividing the panels of an egg was used by Fabergé for two Imperial Easter Eggs: the Danish Palaces Egg of 1890 and the Twelve Monograms Egg of 1895. Later eggs in the series were certainly inspired by those in the possession of the imperial family. The ‘surprise’ which the egg once contained is missing and was not with it when King George V purchased it from Wartski as a Christmas present for Queen Mary in 1933.

Mark of Michael Perchin

Text adapted from Fabergé in the Royal Collection