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An egg-stravaganza!

The great craftsman Carl Fabergé and his team made extraordinary eggs each Easter for the last two Empresses of Russia. Find out more about some of these amazing works of art, and then try colouring in your own version – or even have a go at decorating a real egg!

This short film lets you get up close to the Imperial Easter eggs

Imperial Easter egg, basket-shaped, silver-gilt and oyster guilloché enamel mounted with rose diamond trellis and oval handle with four bows, blue enamel splayed base with rose diamond trellis. Egg contains wild flowers, leaves and husks of enamel

Basket of flowers egg ©

This basket of flowers is actually an Easter egg! It was given to the Russian Empress, Alexandra Feodorovna, in 1901 but would have taken at least a year for many different artists and craftsmen to make. The tiny ears of wheat move when there is the slightest vibration and the moss at the base of the flower bouquet is made of thousands of tiny strands of gold!

The Mosaic Egg and Surprise ©

This is the most expensive Fabergé Easter egg ever made. It was made in 1914 and has a hidden ‘surprise’ inside - portraits of the five children of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The Empress discovered this surprise when she opened the egg on Easter morning.

It is called the ‘Mosaic Egg’ because the decoration is made from thousands of precious stones, including diamonds, rubies and sapphires, which are fitted into the egg-shaped, platinum cage, just like a mosaic.