Imperial Russian Easter Egg 1880s Antique Cloissone Original Family Provenance

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Imperial Russian Easter Egg 1880s Antique Cloissone Original Family Provenance:
$1199.00

Description: Authentic 19th Century Imperial Russian Easter Egg, circa 1880. Fashioned into a presentation case opens in the middle with a single twist. The egg is entirely decorated with ornate multi-colored handwork, Russian Cloisonne design, of Renaissance Baroque style comprised of Arabesques and flowers. The colors worked into the egg\'s decoration during this time period were achieved by the use of various chemicals added to the glass. The colors are brilliant. Both halves are stamped with these hallmarks to denote the artist - \"HA\" and \"88\"

Dimensions: not exact, but approximately 2.625\" long and 1.625\" diameter. I have added pictures to show dimensions with tape measure.

Condition: The egg is in excellent condition and has been well cared for in it\'s nearly 127 years! These eggs were gilded silver, and so you see a slight bit of the gold gilt with more of a silver finish at this point. The only thing that I would say shows any signs of wear is that the egg, when twisted closed, has a slight bit of movement or you could say is slightly loose, but when displayed, that is not a noticeable flaw - in fact, this may be how the eggs always were, I cannot say, as I wasn\'t around in 1890!

STORY: This is the story of the journey of this egg and also, my family\'s origins: In the late 1800\'s, a young \"White\" Russian (\"Ukrainian\") Military Officer fell in love and used this egg to propose to his intended. The two were married and had two children, a son and daughter. In the early 1900s, the Bolshevik revolution caused a great many Russians who were in any way afiliated with royalty to flee in order to save their lives. The husband (my Grandfather) and the son (then 16) stayed to fight in the war while the wife (my Grandmother) and the daughter (my Mother) fled across Asia to Turkey, then Iran, eventually making their way to Paris. Among the few possessions my Grandmother carried was this egg and she kept it safe and well preserved her entire life. After my Grandmother\'s death, my Mother kept it until her passing, whereupon I inherited it. I am now 86 and my wish is that someone will purchase this who will truly treasure this very special item and perhaps even use it for the same purpose as it was used originally.

These lovely cloisonne eggs were created to be given as gifts at Easter.

Material: Silver gilt and it is marked as silver gilt with the Russian hallmark “88”.

Place of origin: Moscow, circa 1890s

Artist: Probably Nikolai Alekseev, who was active at that time (the hallmark in Cyrillic “HA” appears to be his).

The provenance of this Easter egg makes it very special.

Shipping:

This item will be well protected, insured and shipped USPS priority mail within 3 days of receipt of payment.

(Enamel, ornate cloisonne, Authentic Imperial Russian Easter Egg)