I realize this isn't very sharp, so a far better picture that I didn’t have to take surreptitiously or with my iPhone is at http://www.pbase.com/helenpb/image/165685380

“Nicholas presented his mother with the pink Catherine the Great Easter Egg [crafted by the House of Fabergé] in 1914. This egg’s pink and white cameo-like medallions bear scenes of the arts and sciences. Cherubs representing the four seasons adorn the smaller ovals. Between the panels in raised gold are musical instruments, tools used in the arts and sciences, and trophies. This egg was named for Catherine the Great because of the marvelous ‘surprise’ it once held inside – a miniature figure of the empress, a great patron of the arts and sciences, seated in a wind-up sedan chair carried by two servants. The surprise, revealed by opening the top of the egg, was unfortunately lost long ago.”

*****

We returned once again to the Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, legendary heiress of General Foods, diplomat, philanthropist and distinguished collector of French and Russian art and jewelry. We wanted to see a Fabergé exhibit going on there and also enjoyed walking through the grounds and hothouse to and from.

Mystery bloom, posted earlier: