The collection of jewellery pieces of the renowned House of Fabergé does not belong to the basic, original collections of the Kremlin Museums. The precious items of this collection date back their ‘museum life’ yet to the early 1920s. The most interesting and valuable pieces were brought from Saint Petersburg even before October 1917 and, having avoided destruction and selling by miracle, appeared then in Kremlin.

Ten preserved Easter eggs of the Fabergé House grace the exposition of the Russian treasury – the Armoury chamber for more than 70 years. Easter presents excite constant admiration and enormous interest among Russian and foreign public, since they witness not only talent and mastery of Russian jewellers, but are also a kind of ‘precious’ manuscript of the country during the rule of the last Romanovs – Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II. Some of these wonderful art pieces reflected the important historical events from the life of the Russian Empire; others were just heartwarming family signs of love and attention.

On the night of 17 September 1917, the train arrived in Moscow. It consisted of 40 carriages ‘with the most valuable property of the former palace administration’ that was evacuated by the Provisional Government from Petrograd due to the events on the war seat – the German troops offensive on the northern capital. The crates with jewels that had belonged to the Tsar’s family were delivered to the Moscow Kremlin. Among them there were Easter eggs, produced by the famous House of Fabergé upon the Emperor’s order; they were placed in the halls of the Armoury Chamber for keeping. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say exactly, how many Easter eggs there were in the crates, since the inventories of Tsar’s property were composed hastily and contained too little information about the items.

The values were consigned to oblivion for four years since the October events. But then, the dramatic history of Tsars’ Easter masterpieces began; most of them were taken away from Russia during the dismal years when the national values were sold out. The new power needed resources to struggle against famine and destruction, to buy tractors, machines and much more else. It was decided to create a reserve of artistic values, ‘luxury and antique items that could be sold abroad’.

During the period from 17 February till 24 March 1922, the imperial Easter eggs and other values, temporally kept in the museum, were transferred by the Head Administration for Museum Affairs to the State Repository of Precious Metals of RSFSR. In 1927, when the first wave of antique sales rushed back, the Armoury Chamber, being then a part of the United Museum of the Applied Art, received 24 Easter eggs of the Fabergé House. The acquired art pieces became the exhibits of the national treasury and were included in the Inventory of the Armoury Chamber.

In 1930, a serious threat impended again over the Easter presents. The so-called SpecialShock Brigade, consisting of members of the Expert Appraisal Committee for Antiques (purchase and realization bureau), demanded 11 Easter eggs from the exposition and the fund of the museum. Six of these items were the artworks by M. Perkhin, the chief craftsman of the Fabergé House, and five - by H. Wigström, his successor.  The museum employees retarded the delivery of eggs and other objects to the Antique Office as long as they could, but then People's Commissariat of Education sent a document stating that the responsibility for the delay of museum values delivery, chosen for realization on the foreign markets, and thus, the frustration of the USSR financial plan, would lie solely with the museum employees. Basing on this document and special instruction of the Council of People's Commissars, 11 Easter eggs were delivered to the Antiques on 21 June 1930 for export. The price of the exhibits, charged by the soviet experts, varied from several hundred to several thousands of rubles. As a result, the sold Easter presents appeared in different museums and collections of the USA.

In 1933, the Antiques chose five more eggs from the collection of the Armoury Chamber. The museum employees did as much as they could to prevent their realization on the foreign markets. With great difficulty the museum managed to save the egg ‘Clover’ and egg with model ‘In the Memory of Azov’ cruiser, but, unfortunately, three other eggs were delivered to the Antiques. As a result of these events, the Armoury Chamber was left with 10 imperial Easter eggs that became core and pride of the Kremlin collection of Carl Fabergé art.