The first Imperial Fabergé egg was presented to which empress?

The first Imperial Fabergé egg was presented to Empress Maria Feodorovna. Known as the First Hen, or Jeweled Hen egg, it was made in 1885 for Tsar Alexander III to give his wife, Maria Feodorovna, at Easter.

The small white-enamel egg opens to reveal a gold “yolk,” which contains a gold hen. The hen originally concealed a diamond-and-gold miniature of the imperial crown and a tiny ruby pendant; both of those final surprises are now missing.

The design delighted the empress and inspired Alexander III to commission a new jeweled Easter egg for her every year. Peter Carl Fabergé supervised the workshop, although the actual craftsmanship of the first egg is attributed to workmaster Erik Kollin. Its design may have echoed an 18th-century ivory egg from the Danish royal collection, something Maria would have recognized from her childhood as a Danish princess.

A common mix-up is Alexandra Feodorovna, Nicholas II’s wife. She received many Imperial eggs too, but Maria Feodorovna was the recipient of the first one. The egg is now held by the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg.