Russian Easter Eggs

image via Bargain Bites

Christianity was adopted in the 10th century under Prince Vladimir.  Easter is the most important event in the Orthodox Church calendar.  Eggs are dyed red to symbolize the blood of Christ and the shell represents the sealed tomb.  Cracking symbolizes resurrection. 

It is believed that Maria Magdalene gave an egg to the Roman Emperor Tiberius to announce the resurrection of Christ. He doubted her and said, "It is so difficult to believe in it just as to believe that a white egg can become red!" and the egg turned red.

Red eggs are dyed using yellow onion shells.  Boil shells for 15-20 minutes.  Then boil the eggs in the onion "broth" for about 10-15 minutes (less if you want a better-tasting hard-boiled egg).  More onion shells and a longer boiling time will make the color more red. 

With Alexander III, the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg was founded in 1744 and created eggs with monograms of the emperors.  During the reign of Nicholas II, eggs were given to soldiers and were more simple than the earlier gilded porcelain eggs.  The finest collection of porcelain eggs can be seen at the Hermitage.

Eggs were also made of wood, stone, and papier-mache.  The jeweler Faberge made jewelry miniatrue eggs in the 19th and 20th centuries.  See the list of Faberge eggs from 1885 to 1917 on wikipedia or their wherabouts on pbs, which includes the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, the Hillwood Museum in DC, and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. 

Faberge eggs at the Virginia Museum of Fina Arts, via VMFA Blog