Fabergé in the Royal Collection
An introduction to Fabergé in the Royal Collection
Colonnade Egg
RCIN 40084
This egg's design is intended to evoke a temple of love. Two doves in the centre represent the enduring affection between Tsar Nicholas II, who commissioned the egg, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. The silver-gilt cherubs seated around the base meanwhile symbolise their four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. The long-awaited heir to the throne, Tsarevitch Alexis, is the cupid on top. Originally this figure held a rod which indicated the time on the clock incorporated into the egg. All five children and their parents were tragically killed in 1918, as revolution swept across Russia. Confiscated and sold following the Revolution, the egg itself was eventually bought by Queen Mary as a gift for King George V, in 1931.