I believe that this group of Easter Eggs was made by the Russian Imperial Porcelain Factory. Period of Nicholas II, 1894 to 1917.
The Nicholas II – Moscow Coat of Arms Egg, the Bird in Wheat Egg and the Poppy Egg were previously posted with three larger coloured ground examples in March of 2016. Search “Eye Cholesterol Eggs” in archive for further details.
A few months after finding those three, I came across this related pair. It was listed by a different seller but from the same city as the other three. The seller was unfamiliar with what he was selling just as the previous seller had been.
My theory is that there was an estate sale in that far away city where no one knew what to make of these rare and precious objects. I suspect they were sold off as inexpensive novelties and that is what people bought them as. It doesn’t feel like I put this group together so much as re-united it.
The icon egg depicts St. Sergy of Radonezh, a much revered figure in the Russian Orthodox Church. After a design by O.S. Chirikov. Reverse cross design is after A.S. Kaminsky. The cross contains miniature icons of Christ, the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
When I first studied the Poppy Egg, I was unsure if the image was painted or printed. This pair has solved that question. Both appear to have screen printed designs. The process shows more clearly than it does with the Poppy Egg. You can see in one of the details of the village behind the saint that the registration of the screens was a bit off. Each enamel colour and possibly the gold would have had its own screen. Each successive layer of enamel was printed on top of and next to the others that preceded it. A process used to great effect in these examples.
Both the St. Sergy and the Russian Pattern Eggs are approximately 9 cm in height.
