1897 - Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna

Coincident with the centennial celebration of the patronage of charitable institutions by the Empresses of Russia, this gold egg is engraved with the commemorative dates "1797-1897"; and with the motifs of the Arts and Sciences. It is surmounted with the figure of a pelican and its young, in diamonds and opalescent white enamel, representing tenets of the Christian Faith, Charity and Sacrifice.

Unfolding into eight oval panels, each rimmed in pearls, miniatures by Zehngraf are revealed of the institutions of which the Dowager Empress was patroness, founded principally for the education of young girls. Closed, the panels form the enitre egg, the surface separations of which are ingeniously concealed.

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