Carrying on my egg theme (which I didn’t realize I was doing until I decided on this topic for today’s post), I got to thinking about Easter eggs, and about the most famous eggs of all – Fabergé eggs.

In 1885, Russian Tsar Alexander III wanted to give his wife, the Empress Maria Fedorovna, an Easter egg similar to one she had been entranced by as a child. The egg, known as the Hen Egg, belonged to her aunt. The egg opened to reveal a surprise, which opened again to reveal another.

The empress loved Alexander’s gift, and he commissioned Fabergé to design a new Imperial Egg each year. Fabergé was given complete freedom in his designs, the only requirement being that they each contained a surprise.

The designs became more and more extravagant, adorned with valuable gems and precious metals. From 1885 until 1917, every Easter, a new egg was designed. These eggs, now worth millions of dollars, are scattered around the world, owned by private collectors and museums.

So, I’ve told the Easter bunny not to bother bringing me a chocolate Easter egg. A Fabergé egg will do nicely 