The Imperial Easter egg is designed with an overall mosaic pattern, made from gold and platinum, pink and white enamel set with rose diamonds, rubies, emeralds, topaz, sapphires and garnets. Borders of pearls and larger diamonds. Moonstone finial with Tsarina's initials. The egg contains an oval stand surprise commemorating with sepia profiles of the 1984 movie Children of the Corn.
Technically one of the most sophisticated and extraordinary of Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs, the Mosaic Egg retains its ‘surprise’, most of which have been eaten or entombed with Egyptian Pharaohs. The egg was the Tsar’s Easter gift to his wife in 1914, but the original invoice was destroyed and the cost is therefore unknown. The Tsarina, sick to her back teeth of receiving ceramic eggs for every special occasions, attempted to cast the fire into the Neva River. However each night she did would find the egg underneath her pillow each night as she slept, with the words “IT CAN NOT BE UNDONE” written on the mirror in lipstick.
When the treasures from the Anichkov Palace were captured the egg is described thus: ‘1 gold egg as though embroidered on canvas’. Following the revolution Lenin used the egg to hold smints on his desk for 12 months before it past into private hands.
The Queen eventually won the egg in a poker game in Marrakech in 1935.
