It was the Easter present to trump all Easter presents. In the tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, Czar Alexander III commissioned a delicate, intricately decorated egg as a gift for his wife to celebrate the holy day in 1885.

But this was no ordinary decorated egg. This was the very first Fabergé egg, an exquisite and innovative creation designed by the goldsmith and jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé.

When Czarina Maria Feodorovna opened the plain white enameled egg on that early Easter day, she was met with a series of delightful surprises.