# Lapis Lazuli Easter Egg

- By: Peter Carl Fabergé (Russian, 1846–1920)
- By: House of Fabergé (Russian, 1842–1918)
- Date: c. 1885–90
- Medium: gold, enamel, lapis lazuli, pearls, diamonds, rubies
- Classification: Miscellaneous
- Dimensions: Overall: 5.9 x 4.5 cm (2 5/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
- Culture: Russia, St. Petersburg
- Credit line: The India Early Minshall Collection
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1966.436)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1966.436/1966.436_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Peter Carl Fabergé became the crown jeweler to the imperial court of Russia in 1885 after he produced the very first Easter egg for Tsar Alexander III to give to his wife, Empress Marie Feodorovna. Fabergé created his celebrated Easter eggs, symbols of rebirth and renewal, as gifts for the Russian imperial family every year until he had to leave the country in 1919 after the Russian Revolution. Made of gold and lapis lazuli from the Ural Mountains, this egg opens to reveal a compartment enameled to resemble an egg yolk, which contains yet another delightful surprise of an imperial crown holding a tiny ruby or pink sapphire on a chain.