Nobel's Ice Egg (Fabergé egg)

1914 Fabergé egg From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nobel's Ice Egg (Russian: Ледяное яйцо Нобеля), sometimes also referred to as the Snowflake egg, is a jeweled Fabergé egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé for the Swedish-Russian oil baron and industrialist Emanuel Nobel between 1913 and 1914.

Year delivered1914
RecipientUnknown
Individual or institutionArtie and Dorothy McFerrin
Quick facts Fabergé egg, Year delivered ...
Nobel's Ice Egg Fabergé egg
Year delivered1914
CustomerEmanuel Nobel
RecipientUnknown
Current owner
Individual or institutionArtie and Dorothy McFerrin
Design and materials
Materials usedplatinum
Height70 millimetres (2.8 in)
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Unlike many of the eggs made in Fabergé's workshop, this egg is not considered an "imperial" egg as it was not given by a Russian Emperor to any Empress.

Design

The pearl-colored ground of the shell is covered with white enamel in alternating transparent and opaque layers each painted and engraved separately to resemble frost, the result is the icy opalescence of a winter morning. The egg, without support, lies on its side and opens in half along the greater perimeter, on the edges there is a row of beads. It lacks the realism of the Winter Egg which, however, shares the inspiration and technique in the execution of the hinges inside the jagged edges. It was designed by Alma Theresia Pihl as was the Winter Egg.[citation needed]

Surprise

Surprise in the Nobel Ice egg

Inside there is a watch pendant, the dial is partly hidden by decorations in the shape of ice crystals placed on the case, made of opalescent rock crystal.[citation needed]

History

After the Russian Revolution, it was sold to the Parisian dealer A. A. Anatra, who subsequently sold it to Jacques Zolotnitzky, of A La Vieille Russie, in Paris. It was later sold to a North-American collector.[citation needed]

In 1994, it was sold at Christie's, in Geneva, for $220,000.[1]

The Nobel Ice egg's current owner are Artie and Dorothy McFerrin of Houston. It is on loan at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.[2]

References

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