The humble Easter egg you will be enjoying this Easter weekend has a rich past. The rarest and most precious Easter eggs are the Russian Fabergé Eggs.
These are a collection of 50 bejeweled Easter eggs commissioned for the Russian royal family in the late 19th century.
The first Fabergé egg was commissioned in 1885 by Emperor Alexander III as an Easter present for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. The empress was so enamoured by the gift that Alexander III commissioned one each year for her until his death on 1 November 1894. After his death, his son Nicholas II, continued with the tradition presenting a Fabergé egg to both his wife and his mother.
Most of the eggs from the original collections were lost during the Russian Revolution in 1917. They are now in the hands of private collectors and museums.
Photos: 1. Lilies of the Valley Fabergé egg photographed at an exhibition in Rome. Miguel Hermoso
2. Imperial Coronation Egg, photographed at an exhibition in Rome. Miguel Hermoso
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