Diamond Trellis, Imperial Fabergé egg at Houston Museum of Natural Science, USA
The Diamond Trellis is an imperial Fabergé egg made of gold, pale green jadeite, and rose-cut diamonds arranged in a lattice across its surface. It is held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, as part of a collection of imperial Russian objects.
The egg was made in 1892 by the Fabergé workshop in St. Petersburg for Tsar Alexander III, who gave it to his wife Maria Feodorovna as an Easter gift. After the Russian Revolution, it passed through several private hands before eventually entering a museum collection in the United States.
The name refers to the pattern of diamonds crossing the surface like the wooden strips of a garden trellis. These eggs were exchanged as Easter gifts at the Russian imperial court, where the tradition of giving them held deep personal meaning for the royal family.
The piece is part of a permanent collection and can be seen during regular museum hours. The details are very fine, so it is worth taking time to look closely rather than moving quickly through the gallery.
Inside the egg sits a tiny ivory elephant figurine that refers to the Order of the Elephant, the highest Danish order of chivalry. Maria Feodorovna was born a Danish princess, and the elephant was a personal emblem she carried throughout her life.
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