Timeline of the Imperial eggs:

[darkannex]

Excuse me if this point has been beaten to death, but I find very few knowledged sources on Faberge...and most of them conflict each other!

With the research I have done...this is the approximate timeline as well as the corresponding eggs.


1885 : Hen egg

1886 : Hen egg with Sapphire Pendant

1887 : Blue Serpent Clock egg

1888 : Cherub egg with Chariot

1889 : Necessaire egg

1890 : Danish Palaces egg

1891 : Memory of Azov egg

1892 : Diamond Trellis egg

1893 : Caucasus egg

1894 : Renaissance egg

1895 : Twelve Monograms egg
1895 : Rosebud egg

1896 : Alexander III egg
1896 : Revolving Miniatures egg

1897 : Mauve Enamel egg
1897 : Coronation egg

1898 : Lilies of the Valley egg
1898 : Pelican egg

1899 : Pansy egg
1899 : Bouquet of Lilies Clock egg

1900 : Cockerel egg
1900 : Trans-Siberian Railway egg

1901 : Gatchina Palace egg
1901 : Basket of Wild Flowers egg

1902 : Empire Nephrite egg
1902 : Clover egg

1903 : Danish Jubilee egg
1903 : Peter the Great egg

1906 : Moscow Kremlin egg
1906 : Swan egg

1907 : Rose Trellis egg
1907 : Cradle with Garlands egg

1908 : Alexander Palace egg
1908 : Peacock egg

1909 : Standart egg
1909 : Alexander III Commemorative egg

1910 : Alexander III Equestrian egg
1910 : Colonnade egg

1911 : Bay Tree egg
1911 : Fifteenth Anniversary egg

1912 : Czarevich egg
1912 : Napoleonic egg

1913 : Winter egg
1913 : Romanov Tercentenary egg

1914 : Mosaic egg
1914 : Grisaille egg

1915 : Red Cross egg with Imperial Portraits
1915 : Red Cross egg with Triptych

1916 : Steel Military egg
1916 : Order of St. George egg

1917: Constellation Egg
1917: Birch egg

The questions I had specifically were:

Is there a reason that up until 1895, there was only one egg made?

Where does the "hoof egg" fit in this timeline, if at all?

Is there any images or descritpions on the Alexander III egg,  Rabbit egg, Nephrite egg, Alexander II commemorative egg and Danish Jubilee egg?

What eggs were created between 1904-1905?

Im sorry if any of this information is inaccurate, I've done the best I could with the dizzying amounts of information out there!

[Merrique]

Hello darkannex,
I believe the reason there was only one egg per year made up until 1895 was that Alexander III had died,Nicholas II had married Alix,and since AIII already had an egg commisioned to give to MF for that easter Nicholas had one made for Alix as well.Since then Nicholas carried on the tradition of his father and every year after that 2 eggs were made,one for his mother and one for his wife.I hope that makes sense.

There is also a wonderful website with information on the eggs with some beautiful photographs.

http://www.andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fab/fab00.html

Also here is another website with images of the of imperial eggs including the unfinished Tsesarevich's Constellation of 1917.

http://www.embajadaderusiaenchile.mid.ru/chile/faberge.html

I hope this helps.

[Robert_Hall]

Probably the best & most recent book on the eggs is: Lowes & McCanless, FABERGE EGGS, A RETRO. ENCYC.
2001. [also one of the most expensive, you could try a library]
There were no eggs presented in either 1904 or 1905. I think war & civil unrest might have made it inappropriate.
I have 15 books on the subject and  there are some illustrations of the lost eggs, as the original paperwork is found.
None list a "hoof egg". Where did you hear of it? Perhaps Nick Nicholson knows of it, but I doubt very much it is an Imperial egg presented by the Emperors.
Perhaps it's proper name is something else?
Best,
Robert
Best,

[darkannex]

Wow, thanks so much for the replies. I have heard of that book, the Encyclopedia, and did try to order it, but the provider did not come through. I shall have to try again.

The "hoof egg" is listed in the book "Masterpieces from the House of Faberge" Page 186, right under the rabbit egg. I do not believe that it is an imperial egg, but am not sure.

The entry for it is as follows:

Hoof Egg: Perchin: 1886-99
Bowenite, red gold, diamongs, rubies, pearls. 3 1/4 in /83 mm. Open. The miniture is of Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna. FAB66003

[Miamia]

Oooh, those eggs again. I once tried to get them in the right timeline but with these sources it's impossible. Happy to see that somebody else has gotten in the same trap.

Wasn't the Hoof Egg supposed to be a gift from the Czarina to a friend so that it isn't listed as an imperial egg (which is an egg made by Fabergé and given inside the imperial family). The Hoof Egg was part of the Forbes Collection so that's going back to Russia now...

Hoof Egg:
http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fab/fab75.html

It is a bit confusing to read the list by Darkannex because there are too many eggs for my bird brain and some of the eggs are known by more than one name.

I wonder where the Resurrection Egg got lost from the list?

I also got the impression that the Basket of Wild Flowers Egg (1901) was made by Boucheron. It looks a bit different in style - more naturalistic than the rest of the Fabergé eggs.

And the Spring Flowers Egg (former Forbes Collection) was missing from the list.

Basket of Wild Flowers:
http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fab/wild.jpg

And all those commemorative eggs. I'm getting dizzy again... How did the Alexander II commemorative egg look like ??

[Robert_Hall]

Faberge, confusing ???  Slightly, perhaps.
[that is putting it mildly].
The ressurection & Spring flower eggs are listed by MaCanless [I use this as the latest referrence] as eggs given to the Empress Dowager by other members of the family. i.e not her son the Emperor.
I have not gone through all of my Faberge books, but the few I have checked  do not come up with the "hoof egg'. I wish Nick Nicholson would drop by here, I am sure he would know what it is.
There is some old Russian tale, I think, about a hoof of some sort. I just saw it in passing so I do not know the story. However, Faberge did use  Russian folklore as inspiration in a lot of his works I think.
Cheers.
Robert

[darkannex]

Thanks you for the info on the hoof egg (aka friendship egg) A big problem I ran in to was with exactly what you said, the different names they are called by.

The resurrection and the wildflowers were not listed in the few lists that I used, although I cannot claim that I use the latest resources. Not much to be said on a low-income family XD I can't buy all the newest toys right away!

[Robert_Hall]

That Resurrection egg has caused more confusion...It is listed now as an "Imperial" but not "Tsar Imperial" egge.
If you can follow: gifts toi the Emp. Dowager, by Faberge, but not from either Emperor. Same with "Spring Flower Egg". Several others thought to be IF eggs have proven to be for Kelch or others [Noble, Youssoupoff, Malbourough, etc]. Also, I could be missing something, but I do not find any egg listed for Alex. II, only some for Alex.III.
A note about the Andrekoymansky site. The pictures are quite nice, but the order & information is faulty.  If you go further into their website, you will notice that Faberge is not their main interest anyway. Not sure what the connection is, unless they are Faberge hobbyists like.
Cheers,
Robert

[darkannex]

Interesting...so there are now two classifications of the Imperial eggs?

The so called Imperial Eggs -- given by Faberge to the Imperials... and the "Tsar" Imperial eggs, given by the Tsar to either wife or mother?

Are there any other distinctions of which egg would be which?

There is a mention of an Alexander II commemorative egg...but I don't think... there was any data found on it. I have it dated 1909....not sure if that helps at all.

[Robert_Hall]

The 1909 Alex. egg was a Commeorative of Alex III for the Dowager. [now lost].
Yes, 3 categories of eggs- Tsar Imperial, given by the Emperor to his wife/mother
Imperial, given by "other" Romanovs to the Dowager Empress and those commissioned by others-not imperial. Naturally, the "Tsar Imperial" eggs are the ones that attract the most interest.
As far as I know, this is the latest calssification.
According to my sloppy arithmatic,  I think there are/were 54 Tsar Imperail eggs [ 1 each from 1885-1894, then 2 each until 1917-minus 1904-05]. The last 2 [1917] never being finished or presented.  It gets mind-numbing subtracting the missing Tsar Imperials  and the ones once thought to be "tsar Imperials" to come up with how many have actually been accounted for !
Cheers,
Robert

[darkannex]

Prepares to have her brain come from her ears as she tries to make a cohesive timeline.

[londo954]

THE HOOF EGG is in the Post Collection at the Hillwood museum and for a long time it was beleived to be part of the Imeprial Collection. I suspect because of the mini of Alex in it. It is sometimes listed as being given to her but I understand that the provenance on a lot of the eggs have chacnged recently.

[strom]

I think a better choice for the 1917 egg to the Dowager Empress, in spite of the admittedly faulty paper record, record would be the so-called "Gate" egg in Lapis, (surprise is missing).  Also, the great clock egg intended in 1917 for the Empress Alexandra has been found in Moscow, however in a state of ruin.  I believe the Russians might attempt to restore this particular Egg.  It would be a marvel to see it as Faberge had planned.    

[Miek]

Hi Storm,
Dont know yet how to post individual pictures, but here http://www.mieks.com/Faberge/1917-Blue-Constellation-Egg.htm you can see the egg finished, end of the page.

It makes me feel sad and wish they het left it unfinished.
rgds,
Miek

[darkannex]

I was curious if there was a recommended and updated manual that I could refer to? I've not heard of alot of the recent changes.

The recommendation I received earlier was : Lowes & McCanless, FABERGE EGGS, A RETRO. ENCYC.
2001