Red Cross Egg
Cat. no. 99
Workmaster: Henrik Wigström (1862-1923)
Icon attributed to Adrian Prachov (active about 1906-15)
St. Petersburg, 1915
Gold, silver, enamel, glass
The Cleveland Museum of Art, The India Early Minshall Collection

When India Early Minshall purchased this egg in 1944, she had already written The Story of My Russian Cabinet, noting, "Fabergé was called the Cellini of the North, but I do not think any jeweler can ever be compared to him." Wartime economy prevailed in the making of this austere jewel in 1915. Its severe red crosses are embellished with portraits of Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana. Like their mother, Czarina Alexandra (for whom the egg was made), the two girls were active in the Red Cross during the First World War. Inside the egg, images of St. Olga and St. Tatiana, patron saints of the young grand duchesses, flank a miniature of the Harrowing of Hell, Christ awakening the dead after the Resurrection. Czar Nicholas, engaged in the war effort at the front, was unable to present the egg personally to the czarina.

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