This egg was made by the Fabergé firm in 1912 and incorporates gold, silver platinum, lapis lazuli, diamonds, rock crystal and watercolor on ivory. It was created for Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna as a tribute to her son, the Tsarevich Alexei. The surprise inside the egg is a framed portrait of the young tsarevich.

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The other thing we did in Richmond was visit the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, not something I’d normally do on a first visit to a place, but I have long wanted to see their collection of five Fabergé eggs, and this was my chance to do it.

Robert E. Lee, posted earlier: