THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH EGG: A FABERGÉ VARICOLOR GOLD, ENAMEL AND JEWELED EASTER EGG,WORKMASTER MICHAEL PERCHIN, ST. PETERSBURG, 1902

An annular clock in the form of an Easter egg enameled translucent rose pink over a guilloché ground, the white enamel chapter ring with diamond-set Roman numerals between borders of seed pearls, the top of the egg applied with varicolor gold floral swags pendent from diamond-set ribbon bows, the finial in the form of a diamond-encrusted acorn, the C-scroll handles rising from rams' head masks and topped with acanthus leaves, a diamond-encrusted serpent encircles the egg, its arrow-form tongue indicating the hour, each side of the trilateral pedestal enameled translucent oyster over a guilloché ground, one side applied with the diamond-set monogram of Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, below a diamond-set ducal coronet, the second side applied with a varicolor gold cornucopia and the third side with a varicolor gold love trophy, the top of the pedestal enameled translucent oyster with rose pink reserves at the corners, the pilaster corners and the top border of the pedestal enameled translucent rose pink and applied with gold bellflowers, the lower gold border chased with acanthus leaves, each foot enameled translucent rose pink and applied with a chased gold pattera, marked with Cyrillic initials of workmaster, Fabergé in Cyrillic and assay mark of Yakov Lyapunov (1899-1904), 56 standard for 14 karat gold, also with engraved signature under one foot in script Roman letters, K. Fabergé, and date 1902. With original fitted holly wood case, the interior silk lining black-stamped in Cyrillic below the Imperial eagle, Fabergé/St. Petersburg/Moscow/Odessa.

This egg, the only large Easter egg to have been commissioned from Fabergé by an American, is inspired by a Louis XVI clock with revolving dial. The workshop of Michael Perchin created several versions of this model, of which the best known is the blue enamel Serpent Clock egg traditionally dated 1887 and thought to have been presented by Tsar Alexander III to his wife Tsarina Maria Feodorovna (now in the Collection of H.S.H. Prince Rainier III of Monaco) (p. 330). 1

As attested by the diamond-set initials CM under a ducal crown, the present egg was made for Consuelo Marlborough, granddaughter of the American railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was married off against her will to Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, in 1894.

In 1902, prior to the coronation of Edward VII at which she had been asked by Queen Alexandra to be a canopy bearer, the Duchess traveled to Russia with her husband, where they attended the Bal des Palmiers, where the Duchess was the dinner companion of Tsar Nicholas. Consuelo, who was later happily married to a Monsieur Jacques Balsan, recalled the occasion: “ With the entrance of the Imperial family to the inspiring air of the Russian anthem – the procession of grand dukes in splendid uniforms, the grand duchesses, lovely and bejeweled, the beautiful remote Tsarina and the Tsar – the ball took on the aspect of a fairy tale. ” 2 She remembered to have dined on “ gold and silver plate fashioned by Germain, chased and beautiful in shape and color. ”After a dinner with Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Vladimir, she was shown the celebrated jewels of the Grand Duchess “ set out in glass cases in her dressing room. ” She also visited the Dowager Empress at Anichkov Palace and must have seen her Fabergé collection, including the Blue Serpent Clock Egg, which probably served as model for the egg which she ordered from Fabergé.

After her divorce from Marlborough, Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan donated the egg to a charity auction in 1926: “ an auction of gifts, including a Fabergé clock I brought back from Russia and an automobile brought lively bidding. ” The successful bidder was Polish soprano Ganna Walska, second wife of the president and chairman of the board of the International Harvester Company of Chicago, Harold Fowler McCormick. It was later acquired by Malcolm Forbes as his first Easter egg at an auction of her property in 1965 at Parke-Bernet in New York.

Michael Perchin, Fabergé's superbly gifted second head workmaster, is best known for his objects designed in the Neo-Rococo or Baroque style, of which the Spring Flowers Egg (p. 376), the Rocaille Box 3 and Rocaille Opera Glasses 4 are prime examples. Towards the last years of the nineteenth century, a more sober Neo-Classical style made its appearance in Paris. This movement was spearheaded by such great joailliers as Cartier and Chaumet, who abhorred the lascivious, sinuous orms of Art Nouveau. Fabergé, forever open-minded towards new trends, readily adopted this fashion. In the case of the 1902 Marlborough Egg, Fabergé's Neo-Classical idiom is best seen in the design of the triangular pedestal, the fluted base of the egg and his use of acanthus foliage, husks, laurel wreaths and flower swags, all derived from Classical Antiquity. Further examples of this new style in Perchin's oeuvre are the Rosebud Egg (p. 128), the Chanticleer Egg (p. 306), the Imperial Writing Portfolio 5 and the Louis XVI–style cigarette case. 6

NOTES:
1. The early date attributed to this egg by Fabergé/Proler/Skurlov (1997) stands in contrast to its technical perfection. There is also an inconsistency in the description of the 1887 egg, listed as “Easter egg with a clock decorated with brilliants, sapphires and rose diamonds (2,160 roubles)” and again as “gold egg with clock, with a circle of brilliants, gold stand with three sapphires and diamond roses.” Neither the mention of the sapphires, nor its low price, corresponds to the mentioned egg, which should have cost over 5,000 rubles.
2. Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, Glitter and the Gold . New York, 1952, p. 252.
3. Forbes/Tromeur 1999, pp. 136-137.
4. Op. cit., pp. 148-149.
5.Op. cit., pp. 184-185.
6. Op. cit., pp. 168-169.