Russian Eggs

Did you know that colored Russian eggs have been given as gifts in Russia for more than a millennium? Since the egg itself is a symbol of new life, it is a perfect gift for a family with a newborn. There are numerous eggs in the store collection that represent Mary and baby Jesus, which would be very appropriate while being a statement of your faith. But don't think that eggs are just for babes: adults will find them a very surprising and delightful gift as well. Young girls gave colored eggs to young men they fancied. The tradition of presenting colored eggs has always been thought through, from the color and design of the egg to the personality of the happy beneficiary. There was believed to be a certain "color code": eggs with predominantly white background and simple designs were given to younger people, whose life represents a blank page, while eggs with darker colors and more intricate designs were presented to older people, whose lives are already "filled" with events. Red symbolized love, yellow - harvest, green - wealth, and blue was associated with health.

Even if you don't keep to those traditions, any Russian egg is still bound to attract attention and be a perfect present for virtually any occasion. Carl Faberge started this trend 150 years ago. Tsar Alexander III ordered an Easter egg for his wife, Maria Fyodorovna, and apparently she was so pleased with what her Easter bunny brought her that Faberge was promoted to be the royal jeweler. Such a position, of course, involved walking on egg shells, as every egg ordered for the tsar family had to have a surprise in it (and as no one likes old surprises, poor Carl had to think of a new one every year). Imagine his agony when the next emperor, wanting to please his mother as well as his wife, started ordering two eggs each year! And even still the ingenious jeweler always replied: "Your majesty will be pleased". One can't afford to have scrambled eggs for brains if he wants to please a tsar. His masterpieces made the Russian master one of the most famous people in the world. One of his eggs - the Rothchild egg - was auctioned in 2007 for $18,5 mln. That's how the Russian eggs roll.

"So, what do I do with those beautiful eggs?", someone will ask. And that's where you can check if you are an "out-of-the-box thinker". The ordinary mind would put them behind glass and dust them every once in a while. Now, that's fine too, as virtually any egg from our collection is unique and attractive in its own way and deserves the attention. But don’t you want to have fun with your collection, too?

For instance, if you are into egg tapping (also known as Easter egg fights), be the all-time winner (read – cheater) with your hand painted wooden egg. Everyone will be so taken by the beauty of the ornament on your egg that they won’t notice a slight weight difference, as well as the crazy luck you will have.

Or do you have a friend that badly wants to get married, but cannot get approval from the parents? Arrange an egg dance for them! According to an old tradition a number of eggs were scattered on the floor or a flat lawn. The music played, and the couple which finished the whole dance without damaging a single egg would be betrothed immediately and even family didn’t have a say against it.

Or you can start a fun game that is also called the egg dance. In a circle drawn in chalk on the floor is a bowl with an egg in it. Around are scattered little objects like flowers, little toys, and eggshells. The goal is to roll the egg out of the bowl, then flip the bowl over and cover the egg with it. The real catch is that it needs to be done with one’s feet only, not touching the objects around and not going out of the circle. And, of course, keeping the egg undamaged (which in your case will be easy, unless you will want to play with a glass egg – then we retrieve all responsibility for this).

You could also be the most stylish egg-roller during Easter. Traditionally children participated in Easter egg rolls. The rules vary depending on the country and the traditions, sometimes the winner would be the one rolling their egg the furthest down a slope, and at other times the one breaking the shell of another egg with their egg. If you don’t even remember the year you turned 18 but are still young at heart you can show off your fancy Russian eggs at the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn.

And of course the good old egg hunt. You can write clues for the kids (and adults) to look for their “treasure”, make a map of the house with the eggs locations marked, or just hide them and let the crowd search! This will also make for some surprising moments finding eggs around the house long after Easter is gone…

As you see, Russian eggs have tons of unlimited uses, from decorating your Easter basket to self-defense against an unsuspecting burglar. One thing is known for sure – they are bound to be a joy and an attraction on any occasion.