1896 - Revolving Miniatures

Banded in diamonds and translucent emerald enamel, it is surmounted by a rare Siberian emerald weighing 27 karats, cun en cabochon and pointed. On a plinth of rock crystal, the double spheroidic base in contrastingly colorful enamels, twice circled with diamonds, is designed with monograms of the Tsarina, as the Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, before her marriage, and later as Aleksandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia. Above these appears a series of diamond crowns of the respective royal houses.

Within the egg twelve signed miniatures by Zehngraf, framed in gold and controlled by the emerald at the apex, revolve on a columnar axis. These, showing the royal residences in Germany, England and Russia associated with the life of the Tsarina, include views of palaces in and near Darmstadt, Hesse; Balmoral and Windsor Castles, and Osborne House in the British Isles; the Winter, Antichkov and Aleksandr Palaces of Russia.

Return to Viewing List

Return to Main Page

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page