The British Royal Family - news, views, clothes & shoes! #9

[Lilibet]

Now if you were thinking 'Meh' to the idea of discovering long, lost (or not-so-long lost for the stolen tiaras!) jewels & treasures you may just wanna think again...

Third Imperial Easter Egg
​

Easter is the most important of all Russian Orthodox festivals and it's a long-established tradition to exchange Easter eggs...

Created by Karl Fabergé from 1885 to 1916 the Eggs are his most prized creations and have become bywords of luxury and craftsmanship.

The Fabergé Egg, which is beautifully crafted and contains a Vacheron Constantin watch inside, is sitting on an elaborate, jewelled gold stand
​

This egg was last seen in public over 112 years ago, when it was shown in the Von Dervis Mansion exhibition of the Russian Imperial Family's Fabergé collection in St. Petersburg in March 1902.

Von Dervis Mansion Exhibition Of The Russian Imperial Family's Faberge Collection In St. Petersburg, 1902​

Designed by Karl Fabergé for Tsar Alexander III in 1887, seized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution it's fate after this point was unknown, feared it could have been melted for its gold and lost forever...

It was only in 2011 that Fabergé researchers discovered that the Third Imperial Egg survived the revolution,

... provenance had been unknown and so it was sold at auction on Madison Avenue, New York on 7th March 1964 as a 'Gold watch in egg form case' ...

​

This discovery started a worldwide race to discover the whereabouts of the egg which was now worth tens of millions of dollars.

Is this £20 million nest-egg on your mantelpiece?​

A search is under way for a Fabergé Imperial Egg, worth up to £20 million, which is believed to be in Britain but whose owners have no idea of its true identity or value.

Left to right, the lost egg from the 1964 catalogue; and The Cuckoo (Cockerel) Egg
​

The newly discovered image of the egg has prompted a frantic search by Sotheby’s to trace its whereabouts. Kieran McCarthy, a Fabergé expert from the Mayfair jeweller Wartski, said: “This is an extraordinary discovery. Identifying one of the missing Imperial eggs is incredibly exciting, and even more exciting that whoever has this piece will have no idea of its provenance and significance – nor will they know they are sitting on a royal relic which could be worth £20 million"

“There is every chance this egg is somewhere in this country, because even though it was not sold as Fabergé in the 1964"
Is this £20 million nest-egg on your mantelpiece?

...In the meantime the egg was bought in the Mid-West of America at a bric-a-brac market. The buyer lived a modest live and tried to make extra money by buying gold and selling it for its scrap metal value. When he spotted the egg, he thought he could make an easy $500, although they had to pay $14,000 for its scrap metal value.
But what had worked on many occasions, did not work this time. He had overestimated its worth and couldn’t sell it. No one spotted its potential and luckily no one offered more than the owner had paid for it, hence it was saved from the melting pot...

The egg became a financial burden to its unknowing owner. One evening in despair the owner tapped 'Egg' and 'Vacheron Constantin' into Google...

Recognising his egg in the article the owner was unable to sleep for days. He got on a plane to London to find Kieran and to show him images of the egg. Kieran was left speechless

...to confirm its identity and ensure it was not a very clever fake, he travelled to the US.

When he arrived in a small town in the Mid-West, he was shown into the kitchen of the owner’s home and presented with the egg, which was slightly smaller than the large cupcake positioned next to it.

A Cupcake, a FABERGÉ Egg, and a kitchen work-top, somewhere in the Mid-West
​

... he confirmed that it was indeed the lost Imperial treasure. It had travelled from the hands of an Empress in the grandeur of Imperial St. Petersburg to a scrap metal dealer in modern day America.
Third Lost Imperial Egg

The £20m Fabergé egg that was almost sold for scrap
​

A scrap metal dealer bought an ornament to be melted down for its gold - until he read a Telegraph article revealing it to be a £20 million Fabergé egg
The £20m Fabergé egg that was almost sold for scrap

What a fabulous story!!

 

[human]

DM report that Ellen fed Baby Archie when she visited London. She said that "he looks like Harry".

Ellen DeGeneres reveals how she got to feed baby Archie in Britain | Daily Mail Online

Ellen and Portia are wearing the ugliest clothes. Even in my price range there are cute clothes. Clothes I would love to have. Why do they wear such ugly yuck?

 

[Keine Engel]

The Queen, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall share touching snaps celebrating first responders on Emergency Services Day​

Members of the royal family have praised the emergency services in a series of posts uploaded to their official Instagram accounts today.

​

One of the photos uploaded shows the Queen as she visits crew members at the new base of East Anglian Air Ambulance at Cambridge Airport.

The photos mark Emergency Services Day - and include this one of The Prince of Wales meeting a Cocker Spaniel named Ned

Clarence House and The Royal Family Instagram account both shared heartwarming messages on Emergency Services Day
​

To mark Emergency Services Day, the Queen, 93, Prince Charles, 70, and the Duchess of Cornwall, 72, have all shared a selection of touching photographs alongside heartwarming captions to celebrate first responders.

The Duke of Cambridge speaks to RNLI crew on board a RIB at the RNLI Tower Lifeboat Station​

Camilla Duchess of Cornwall meets staff and emergency crew members as she opens Wiltshire Air Ambulance's new airbase
​

The Queen, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall celebrate Emergency Services Day | Daily Mail Online

 

[gregjrichards]

In full bloom! Kate Middleton looks elegant in a £1,635 floral Emilia Wickstead dress as she arrives to open her Back to Nature play garden

Kate Middleton looks elegant as she arrives at the Back to Nature play garden at Wisley today | Daily Mail Online

 

[human]

View attachment 203455

In full bloom! Kate Middleton looks elegant in a £1,635 floral Emilia Wickstead dress as she arrives to open her Back to Nature play garden

Kate Middleton looks elegant as she arrives at the Back to Nature play garden at Wisley today | Daily Mail Online

She certainly does not look pregnant

 

[Keine Engel]

Curious to which of the Imperial Easter Eggs are now in the possession of HM The Queen & just how she came to end up with them < I had a pretty good idea

FABERGÉ
​

The House of Fabergé was the greatest Russian jewellery firm of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is most famous today for the spectacular Imperial Easter Eggs produced for the Russian royal family, but almost six hundred of its other creations are also represented in the Royal Collection. These include exquisite animal sculptures, cigarette cases and presentation boxes, as well as flower carvings, photograph frames and jewellery...

There's 572 pieces held in this collection

In the 1930s, King George V and Queen Mary purchased the three Imperial Easter Eggs now in the Collection – the Basket of Flowers Egg, the Colonnade Egg and the Mosaic Egg. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother also formed an outstanding collection of flower sculptures, ornaments and boxes.

Colonnade Egg - 1910

​

Description
Imperial Easter Egg with rotary clock, pink guilloché enamel circle dial with rose diamond numerals, surmounted by silver-gilt cupid, six bowenite columns encircle a pair of platinum doves, the stepped circlular base with four silver-gilt seated female cherubs joined by swags; four bun feet.

This Easter egg is an allegory of the imperial family in 1910. The enduring love between the Tsar and Tsarina is represented by the pair of doves; their four daughters, Olga (b. 1895), Tatiana (b. 1897), Maria (b. 1899) and Anastasia (b. 1901) – collectively known by their parents as OTMA – are represented by the four cherubs; and the Tsarevich Alexis (b. 1904) is represented by the cupid.

According to a manuscript annotation by Queen Mary in her copy of Bainbridge’s autobiography, Twice Seven, it was acquired by her in 1931 and given to King George V.

Mosaic Egg and Surprise - 1914

Description
Technically one of the most sophisticated and extraordinary of Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs, the Mosaic Egg retains its ‘surprise’. It takes the form of a medallion painted on ivory with the portraits of the five children of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra on one side and a basket of flowers and their names on the other, on a stand surmounted by the Russian imperial crown, held within the egg by gold clips...

The egg was the Tsar’s Easter gift to his wife in 1914...

Provenance
Confiscated in 1917 and sold by the Antikvariat...
Purchased by King George V from Cameo Corner, London, on 22 May 1933 for £250 ‘half-cost’
..probably for Queen Mary’s birthday on 26 May.

Basket of flowers egg - 1901

​

Description
Imperial Easter egg, basket-shaped, silver-gilt and oyster guilloché enamel mounted with rose diamond trellis and oval handle with four bows, blue enamel splayed base with rose diamond trellis. Egg contains wild flowers, leaves and husks of enamel on gold.

Commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II as an Easter present for Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna in 1901
Pansies, cornflowers, daisies, mock orange, oats and grasses are set into an egg-shaped vase of oyster guilloché enamel filled with moss made of green gold. The vase is applied with gold and rose diamonds in a trellis pattern. The handle is similarly set with diamonds and applied with bows. According to a description of the egg in an inventory of the Easter eggs kept at the Winter Palace dated 1909, the vase was ‘entirely covered with white enamel’. Due to damage sustained in the aftermath of the revolution, the base was re-enamelled in blue, possibly between Queen Mary’s acquisition of the egg in 1933

Provenance
Given by Tsar Nicholas II to Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna in 1901.
Confiscated by the provisional government, 1917; sold by the Antikvariat, 1933 ..Armand Hammer; acquired by Queen Mary, 1933.

All I have to say is...
God Bless Queen Mary!

​

RTC-FABERGÉ

 

[Keine Engel]

FABERGÉ
The collection's currently on show in this exhibition, (until 3rd November) The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse

Combine a visit to see Russia, Royalty & the Romanovs at The Queen's Gallery, Edinburgh with a visit to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the home of Scottish royal history.

I'm actually seriously considering going to see this exhibition.
I think I may have mentioned before my wanting to visit Hogwarts Holyroodhouse? Just to see THAT Grand Staircase

Holyrood

 

[rosemadderlake]

Wonderful Fabergé information, Keine. Thank you for all the historical goodies you share with the BRF thread.

Basket of flowers is my favorite of the three.

 

[Elley Mae]

Faberge egg reunited with its missing ‘surprise’ in Texas

Faberge egg reunited with its missing 'surprise' in Texas


DALLAS (AP) – A Faberge egg and the jeweled elephant designed to fit inside it are being reunited for the first time in almost a century thanks to a loan from Queen Elizabeth II to a Texas museum.

“It’s a really good opportunity to see the two together and marvel at Faberge’s workmanship,” said Caroline de Guitaut, a curator at the Royal Collection Trust.

The reunited pieces will be displayed in a new gallery showcasing more than 600 Faberge items from Dorothy and Artie McFerrin that have been part of the museum for several years.

De Guitaut said the elephant caught her eye because it seemed to match the published description of the missing elephant. Upon careful examination, she eventually figured out that the tower on the elephant’s back had a lid and found the Faberge mark on the inside rim.

.....

I remember reading this was happy the Queen allowed it to be displayed.

 

[Keine Engel]

Wonderful Fabergé information, Keine. Thank you for all the historical goodies you share with the BRF thread.

Basket of flowers is my favorite of the three.

What a fabulous story!!

Inspiration for rekindling my fascination with the Romanov Imperial Jewels I must credit to @Lilibet & Many Thanks for sharing the story of her Grandfather, Herman Marcus

Marcus & Co.
- Founded 1892 -​

Herman Marcus was born in Germany in 1828 and began his jewellery career working for the court jewellers Ellemeyer in Dresden. However the bright lights of New York called to him and in 1850 he left home and emigrated to America.

Pocket Watch By Marcus & Co Jewelers Of New York, Circa 1880.
​

Worked For Tiffany & Co For Many Years Before Starting His Own Business Making High Quality Jewelry & Watches In The Mid To Late 1800’S.

 

[Keine Engel]

To add to the above I'm now even more curious as to just which Chicken (& specifically Egg ) actually came 1st?

This crossed my mind initially on seeing the Elimeyer Egg but I kinda put it down to 'latest trend' thing now I'm not so sure?

Bare with me here...lol

To my knowledge the 'uniqueness' of the Fabergè Eggs was a feature which made them so special? (along with the quality & craftsmanship obviously)

Herman went to Dresden where he worked & trained under M. Elimeyer who was at point in that time the Royal Saxon Court Jeweller

I'm assuming that he must already have been quite established so to earn that appointment?​

Herman left Dresden in 1850

So we can assume Herr Elimeyer had been working a number of years prior

When did he create HIS Egg?

The 1st Faberge Imperial Egg was made & gifted to Tsarina Maria in 1885 ?

Can we all see where I'm going with this?

 

[Keine Engel]

Moritz Eilmeyer (1810-1871)

The biography of Moritz Elimeyer (1810-1871) and the history of his company are so far still largely in the dark. It is known that Moritz Elimeyer was a member of Dresden's Jewish community and supported the building of the Semper Synagogue. In 1840 the office building was rebuilt by Gottfried Semper.
From 1856-1909 Elimeyer, probably his son, were purveyors to the Saxon King in Dresden as well as from 1847-86 ‘Jeweler, Goldsmith & Silversmith to Her Majesty the Queen of England.’

- Keeping it on topic of the thread -​

I know the famous 'Russian Doll' is a similar idea & probably goes back to before this time but doesn't the similarities of the 'Eggs' seem beyond coincidence?

I'm putting this out here before ...

Eilmeyer Biography

 

[Keine Engel]

Tiara Imperial Crown Alert!

O.k. maybe not a tiara! but this thing is phenomenal!

Made for the coronation of Catherine the Great in 1762

The Imperial Russian Crown

Gokhran of Russia
- The REAL* Imperial Crown -​

The imposing crown is studded with an incredible 4,936 diamonds.
The crown consists of two hemispheres (apparently representing the two halves of the Roman empire), which are edged with 75 white pearls..
Atop the arch sits an enormous spinel, which weighs nearly 400 carats and has been part of the imperial collection since the seventeenth century.
A red velvet cap sits inside the crown.

Catherine II (1729-96), Empress of Russia
by Vigilius Eriksen ​

Empress Catherine II commissioned her court jeweler, Jérémie Pauzié, to melt down jewels in the royal treasury that didn't suit current tastes. The resulting materials were used to make a new crown ahead of her coronation.

"one of the richest objects" that "ever existed in Europe."

After Catherine, the crown was worn by every single Russian emperor at his coronation:

In 1906, the crown appeared in public in an imperial context for the final time...

The regalia was returned to the Kremlin Armory.

In 1917, the Bolsheviks succeeded in mounting a revolution,
The emperor and his immediate family were murdered the following year, and the vast riches of the Romanovs were confiscated by the new government...

​

The crown itself, however, remained in Russia.
In 1922, the Soviets officially established the Diamond Fund, ...The imperial crown is part of this collection, which also includes such priceless gems as the Orloff Diamond and the Shah Diamond.

When Walter Duranty of the New York Times traveled to Moscow in the summer of 1922 to view the arrayed jewels, he was urged to try on the crown himself. He reported that it "wasn’t heavy, but for the moment it felt as if the head were in a balloon into which gas was being pumped under pressure."

The Russian imperial crown, filmed by British Pathé ca. 1922
​

The Diamond Fund is still housed in the Kremlin Armory today, which means that the crown hasn't strayed at all from the place where it was once used in elaborate imperial coronations.

It is a rare example of a piece of Russian imperial jewelry that remains, existing as a reminder of the structures of power that came before.

*Note: Today it is locked in the Diamond Fund collection, but it is not on show to the public because it is simply too valuable. To showcase the splendour of the crown, however, a special replica was made in 2012 costing £12.23 million ($15.1) and was exhibited all over Russia and even abroad.
The Court Jeweller
Locked up, lost, or looted: 5 Romanov treasures that have suffered different fates

 

[Keine Engel]

Faberge egg reunited with its missing ‘surprise’ in Texas

...I remember reading this was happy the Queen allowed it to be displayed.

Aww

I did notice there is a lot of ornamental Fabergé pieces in the exhibition mentioned, ^ which had been owned by the Queen Mother, which are now part of the National Trust Collection.

She must have got that old 'magpie' touch from her Mother-in-Law

 

[Keine Engel]

...I know the famous 'Russian Doll' is a similar idea & probably goes back to before this time but doesn't the similarities of the 'Eggs' seem beyond coincidence?

​

Carl Fabergé

...Gustav Fabergé (his father) retired to Dresden, Germany in 1860, leaving the firm in the hands of managers outside of the Fabergé family while his son continued his education.
The young Carl undertook a business course at the Dresden Handelsschule..
Carl returned to St Petersburg in 1872, aged 26 years. For the following 10 years, his father’s Workmaster, Hiskias Pendin, acted as his mentor and tutor.

Following Pendin’s death in 1882, Carl took over the running of the firm.
House of Fabergé

@Lilibet you may have just lead to uncovering a huge controversial historic case of Art Plagiarism

 

[Keine Engel]

Prince William reveals Princess Charlotte loves unicorns
The princess even has a unicorn keyring on her school bag​

Prince William revealed that the young royal is obsessed with unicorns during an art therapy session at the centre.

​

Admiring art created by serving firefighter Dan Bills' three children, the Duke spotted a unicorn horn made from colourful balls. "My daughter loves unicorns," he said. "Loves them. Very cool."

Variations of Charlotte's key ring ​

The little princess proved her love of the mythical creature last week. The four-year-old was spotted jazzing up her Thomas's Battersea navy backpack with a sparkly, sequinned unicorn keyring

​

Hello!

 

[gregjrichards]

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Africa Royal Tour: Full itinerary

September 23rd to October 2nd 2019

Full itinerary of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Africa Royal Tour

 

[gregjrichards]

Prince Harry celebrates major Invictus Games' milestone but Meghan stays at home

It has been five years since Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, founded the Invictus Games and he has described it as "genuinely one of the greatest honours of my life"

Prince Harry celebrates major Invictus Games' milestone but Meghan stays at home

 

[Lilibet]

To add to the above I'm now even more curious as to just which Chicken (& specifically Egg ) actually came 1st?

This crossed my mind initially on seeing the Elimeyer Egg but I kinda put it down to 'latest trend' thing now I'm not so sure?

Bare with me here...lol

To my knowledge the 'uniqueness' of the Fabergè Eggs was a feature which made them so special? (along with the quality & craftsmanship obviously)

Herman went to Dresden where he worked & trained under M. Elimeyer who was at point in that time the Royal Saxon Court Jeweller

I'm assuming that he must already have been quite established so to earn that appointment?​

Herman left Dresden in 1850

So we can assume Herr Elimeyer had been working a number of years prior

When did he create HIS Egg?

The 1st Faberge Imperial Egg was made & gifted to Tsarina Maria in 1885 ?

Can we all see where I'm going with this?

​

Moritz Eilmeyer (1810-1871)

The biography of Moritz Elimeyer (1810-1871) and the history of his company are so far still largely in the dark. It is known that Moritz Elimeyer was a member of Dresden's Jewish community and supported the building of the Semper Synagogue. In 1840 the office building was rebuilt by Gottfried Semper.
From 1856-1909 Elimeyer, probably his son, were purveyors to the Saxon King in Dresden as well as from 1847-86 ‘Jeweler, Goldsmith & Silversmith to Her Majesty the Queen of England.’

- Keeping it on topic of the thread -​

I know the famous 'Russian Doll' is a similar idea & probably goes back to before this time but doesn't the similarities of the 'Eggs' seem beyond coincidence?

I'm putting this out here before ...

​

Eilmeyer Biography

​

Carl Fabergé

...Gustav Fabergé (his father) retired to Dresden, Germany in 1860, leaving the firm in the hands of managers outside of the Fabergé family while his son continued his education.
The young Carl undertook a business course at the Dresden Handelsschule..
Carl returned to St Petersburg in 1872, aged 26 years. For the following 10 years, his father’s Workmaster, Hiskias Pendin, acted as his mentor and tutor.

Following Pendin’s death in 1882, Carl took over the running of the firm.
House of Fabergé

@Lilibet you may have just lead to uncovering a huge controversial historic case of Art Plagiarism

I’m stringing these posts together to keep your train of thought in mind. You are wondering if Elimeyer’s egg may have been a “prototype” for the Fabergé eggs...in other words copied by Fabergé who had Dresden connections and may have seen the Elimeyer Egg. Hmmmmmm....

I suppose it could be the other way around, but I can’t imagine Elimeyer making a less elaborate egg like this if he was copying Fabergé.

The British Royal Family - news, views, clothes & shoes! #8

 

[Lilibet]

Delete duplicate