Feodor Rückert shaded cloisonné enamel Easter egg, Moscow, 1899-1908

Silver, gilding, enamel, foil

Height 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm)

Inv. no. ab_0080

Provenance:

Purchased in Moscow by Dr. Adolphus S. Rumreich (1894-1964), physician at the US Embassy there from 1935 to 1938

Exhibited: 

Moscow, Gosudarstvennyi istoriko-kulʹturnyi muzei-zapovednik "Moskovskii Kremlʹ", “Karl Faberzhe i Fedor Riukert. Shedevry russkoi emali,” 9 October 2020 – 14 February 2021, no. 74.

Publications:

Muntyan, T.N. Karl Faberzhe i Fedor Riukert. Shedevry russkoi emali. Moscow: Gosudarstvennyi istoriko-kulʹturnyi muzei-zapovednik "Moskovskii Kremlʹ", 2020. Cat. no. 74, pp. 80-81.

The exterior of this unusually large two-part Easter egg is distinguished by the rare use of bright, transparent burnt orange, turquoise blue, and green enamel over a foiled ground. The mirror-like surface of the foil reflects light back through the transparent enamel in a jewel-like fashion that forms a strong visual contrast to the opaque and mottled glazes dominating the egg’s surface.