A Vegas Visit to the Jeweled Russian Eggs
Eggs of the czars are on display at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in Las Vegas.
Photo credit: M. Ciavardini
Standing in line at the Kremlin waiting to buy tickets to see the Fabergé eggs a few years ago, I am surprised that more isn’t made of these. I chalk it up to bad marketing, not anticipating that the reason that they aren’t heavily promoted is because the ones on display in the Kremlin Armory Museum are underwhelming. Impressive, yes; but those that are there are not the ones I’ve seen in photographs, the marvelous, jeweled, lacquered eggs made at the behest of czars. Instead, the ones I got to see in their home country are more metallic, and a little lackluster.
Once back in New York, I learn more: That the best eggs were sold off in the years after the Russian Revolution. Since I was in Russia, a museum has opened in St. Petersburg housing the Fabergé eggs that have been repurchased by Viktor Vekselberg and brought back home.
The Fabergé eggs in Las Vegas are closer to many of us than the ones in Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
Photo credit: M. Ciavardini
I haven’t made seeing more eggs a quest, exactly, but I am delighted to come across a few at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in Las Vegas. Here are the sweet jewels of my memory. Try to make the trek there now, because the next time you want to see some Fabergé eggs, you may need to go all the way to St. Petersburg. The Bellagio is probably a lot closer than the Fabergé Museum.
—Lori Tripoli
Note from the Brawny Sherpa: Traveling to Russia to see the church with no nails and Michelangelo’s crouching boy statue was fantastic. I’d never heard of the Fabergé eggs before I saw them in Moscow. I thought they were incredible—not knowing the more glitzy ones are in Vegas.
Michelangelo’s Crouching Boy, on display at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Photo credit: M. Ciavardini
~Advertisement~
~Advertisement~
Going to Las Vegas? Consider these postings: