The idea of creating a special museum devoted to the creative work of the great Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé came to the Link of Times foundation after the purchase by Vekselberg in 2004 of a unique collection of Fabergé masterpieces that had been owned by the late Malcolm Forbes.[3] Since then, the Link of Times foundation began building a collection of Russian decorative applied and fine arts, which contains more than 4,000 works. All of the Imperial Easter eggs in the museum's collection are connected to the rule and personal life of the last two Russian emperors — Alexander III and Nicolas II.
The museum has some 4,000 exhibits, displayed in 12 beautifully restored rooms according to type and history. The display allows the visitor a strong feeling of the opulence and artistry of the time. The Blue Room, fittingly the central hall of the Shuvalov Palace, contains the Imperial Easter Eggs by Fabergé. Each one is a unique masterpiece of jewellery and artistry, as well as a uniquely Russian artefact of the reign and personal life of the last of the Romanovs.
In the collection is the first egg that Fabergé created for Tsar Alexander III in 1885. The Tsar’s commission, a gift for his wife Empress Maria Fedorovna, was for an Easter egg. Known as the Hen Egg, the first Fabergé egg is cocooned inside a white enamel shell which opens to reveal a gold yolk. Much like the Russian Matryoshka doll this opens giving another surprise in the form of a multicoloured gold hen. Finally the hen opened and gave up its secret – a minute replica in diamond of the imperial crown from which was hung a ruby. Sadly these parts were lost.
The idea of creating a special museum devoted to the creative work of the great Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé came to the Link of Times foundation after the purchase by
Vekselberg in 2004 of a unique collection of Fabergé masterpieces that had been owned by the late Malcolm Forbes. Since then, the Link of Times foundation began building a collection of Russian decorative applied and fine arts, which contains more than 4,000 works. All of the Imperial Easter eggs in the museum's collection are connected to the rule and personal life of the last two Russian emperors — Alexander III and Nicolas II.
The Link of Times foundation began restoring the 18th-century Shuvalov Palace (which is rented by the foundation) in St. Petersburg in 2006, with the goal of opening the museum in the palace. Today, the Shuvalov Palace, with an area of about 4,700 square meters, is again one of the most beautiful palaces in St. Petersburg, a historical monument, and tourist attraction.
Open: Daily from 10am to 9pm (Guided tours from 10am to 6pm). Closed on Fridays.