The Faberge Imperial Pansy Egg

 

The House of Faberge produced it's most famous eggs for Alexander III and Nicolas II of Russia. These eggs are made of precious metals or hard stones decorated with combinations of enamel and gem stones. Of the 50 made, 42 have survived.

The 1899 Pansy Egg pictured here is formerly known as the "Spinach Jade Egg", is made of nephrite, silver-gilt, diamonds and enamels. This egg stands on golden twisted leaves from which five enameled pansy flowers and buds emerge. The top part of the egg can be opened to reveal the surprise, a gold tripod on which is located an heart lined in diamonds and surmonted by the imperial crown with eleven scarlet medallions decorated with monograms. By pressing a button the tiny medallions are all opened, and portraits of each member of imperial family become visible.

Originally presented by Nicholas II to Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna in 1899, this egg was one of the ten Eggs sold by the Antikvariat to the Hammer Galleries, New York in 1930.  In 1947, Matilda Geddings Gray, oil heiress, from New Orleans, Louisiana purchased this egg for her neice, Mrs. Matilda Gray Stream as a wedding anniversary present. The Pansy Egg is one of the few significant Imperial Eggs to remain in a private collection.

The House of Faberge recreated this exquisite egg in Limoges porcelain which retails today for an affordable $4000.

The Artists - Merry Scotland

As a child, Merry Scotland developed what has become a lifelong interest in animals, particularly horses and dogs, as a subject of art as friends and companions. Early on, Merry began painting, drawing and sculpting these animals which had long been so important in her life. Her earliest works were executed in pen and ink. She quickly progressed to acrylics, starting with head studies and moving on to full figure portraits with landscape backgrounds. Soon interested in several other facets of the visual arts, she began to treat her subject matter in sculpture, starting with clay and leading to limited editions in bronze.

Merry's chief influences as a young artist were Roger Troy Peterson, Bob Abbott, Guy Coheleach and a number of other noted wildlife and animal artists. She has always been primarily interested in the realistic rendering of her subject matter. A career in breeding, training and rearing race horses, jumpers and American Saddlebred show horses enabled Merry to develop a more thorough and discerning understanding of these animals. She has also owned dogs of many breeds, including Labrador retrievers, Dachshunds, Irish Setters, terriers and mixed breeds throughout her life. It is this close association with animals that has enabled Merry to portray them so successfully in her art. Merry's work is included in private collections throughout the world, including those of Oleg Cassini, Alfred Vanderbilt and Burt Reynolds. She has designed jewelry for Gucci.

This box has a charming painting of a West Highland White Terrier dog, inside is a painting of a leash & collar as well as a personalization as this particular box was a custom order.
Merry's porcelain boxes are Limoges porcelain blanks purchased from France on which she paints in the USA out of her studio: Scotland's Yard.