Fabergé egg, any of a series of decorative eggs containing objets d’art that were made by Peter Carl Fabergé’s studios from 1885 to 1917. The best-known—as well as the most lavish and intricate—were the 50 Imperial eggs created for the Romanov family and given as Easter gifts. In 1885 Alexander III first commissioned an egg as a present for his wife, Maria Fyodorovna. He worked in close collaboration with Fabergé, a jeweler known for his fine craftsmanship and creativity. Their resulting creation was an extravagant variation on the Russian Orthodox tradition of exchanging decorated...