  Regarded as one of Faberge's best compositions, this superb, delicate egg, is enameled opalescent white, the shell engraved on a gold moire guilloche ground. It is divided vertically into six panels by strips of tiny seed pearls and horizontally at its hinged center. The sections are decorated with pink ribbon-tied swags and roses which hang classical motifs and symbols of the arts and sciences. When the egg is opened, a wonderfully rendered model of the Gatchina Palace, near St. Petersburg, is revealed. Under the model of the palace, a velvet-lined space conceals a beautiful surprise. The Gatchina Palace was the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna's favorite winter residence.
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