1895 Twelve Monograms Royal Russian Inspired Egg

• 5 Inches Tall on a Stand
• 4.5 Inches (Egg Height)
• Pewter, Crystals, Enamel

The Original Egg History:
The original Twelve Monograms also known as the Alexander III Portraits Egg is a jeweled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Faberge in 1896, for the then Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. Tsar Nicholas presented the egg to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna. The Twelve Monograms/ Alexander III Portraits Egg was the second egg given by Tsar Nicholas to his mother. It is currently held in the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C. as part of the Marjorie Merriweather Post Collection.
Each panel of the original egg contains a Cyrillic cipher of Alexander III and Maria Fedorovna, set and crowned in diamonds, set against the dark blue enamel with a design of red gold, rose-cut diamonds, portrait diamonds and velvet lining. It is covered by six panels each divided by bands set with rose-cut diamonds and decorated with the Imperial crown and Imperial monograms (MF) "Maria Fyodorovna" and (AIII) "Alexander III". Each monogram appears six times, with Maria's monogram appearing on the top half of the egg and Alexander's appearing on the bottom.