I like the idea of putting it unwrapped in a box... looking forward to seeing your final decision.

How easy is it to render some silk? Great model by the way.

Well, unwrapped but still in the box, it might not make sense to show it opened. So, I like the museum idea a lot. Also, keep in mind that traditionally, the eggs would have a surprize inside ... a gold or jewelled something. It's unlikely that a lady would keep such an egg on a vanity, unless it was done as a necklace. If we're talking about a larger egg, then the museum setting makes the most sense. Also, the surprize could be displayed alongside the egg in the display case, which would make it easier to see. Example ... make a nice terrain/lattice stand for the egg (sort of like the one in the image above, but 3D of course), and then on a raised cube in the same case, display the surprize. (Don't know if you have Poser or can get any animal models, but any animal with jewelled eyes would make a fine surprize.) I've got several of the necklace sized eggs ... those don't typically come with surprizes, so if you do the lady's vanity, you don't need to think about that ... just size it appropriately. And, by the way, it's a beautiful egg. Really well done.

I agree with ricky here. Something pretty for the inside would enhance the egg even more. :-)

How about in an underworld setting as in an illegal buy of such a priceless object? All sorts of things you could do. Just sort of a juxtaposition of beauty and rot. LOL I know WOD, Way Out Dere.

Also, if your decorations are intended to be pearls, I would make them just a bit creamier with a touch more ambience. Try to get some luster out of them (without making them glow in the dark, of course). And, for what it's worth, I think mboncher has a nice idea. Again, if you're talking priceless object, then a large egg with an intact surprize would bring the big bucks.

i'd go for museum too and show a face glaring at it through glas lol

How about this? From inside a shop window of a jewelry store in russia. A small child in rags stares at the beautiful egg she can never afford. A coach stands at the curb with rich people gitting out. Across the street in an alley more poor stand around a fire in a barrel trying to stay warm.

YES, ELECTRO, perfect scene!!!!!!!! Either that or placed on a bedroom dresser with a silk scarf with candles flanking each side?

Interesting idea .... historically inaccurate, but interesting nonetheless. Eggs such as these would never have been put on display in a shop window. They were all commissioned works that the public never saw. Items of great value like a Faberge Egg would never (EVER) have been placed somewhere that your typical smash and grab thief could get to them. Mind you, it's still a neat image, and a great allegory for the gap between the haves and the have nots, it just wouldn't have actually happened.

Well yes. I'm still waiting for those Weapons of Mass Distruction to show up myself. The point of artistic license is to express emotion not accuracy. I don't think anyone but the Imperial family saw these before the revolution but I still think it paints a good picture. I could probably do the museum idea with a current-day poor kid and express the same point. Maybe have the guards roust a street person out into the cold in the background. I could still do the open box or a woman opening the box. Just the idea of a gift without the social commentary. Maybe I should do both and see who likes which better.

Absolutely, I'm not saying don't do the scene as you suggested it ... shop window and all. Just be aware that you are taking a big leap from history in order to do it. (That way you're ready if you get people like me who will nit-pick you to death with crap like this.) Museum idea with current day poor kid could indeed make the same point (and not have you fall into the trap of history). In fact, when I went to the exhibition of the Imperial Eggs at our local museum some years back, one of the things that struck me was all the school children (of various ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds) that were crammed around the display cases. You might also do something along those lines, with a teacher lecturing to her students, and one or more obviously poverty stricken children listening and looking longingly at the beautiful egg. while the other children are paying more attention to the teacher. It also cracked me up that as I lectured on the subject, a bunch of people left their tours and started following me around (something I didn't notice until it was pointed out to me, and someone I didn't know started asking me questions about specific eggs -- thank the maker, I knew the answers). In any event, whether you do something historical, fictional or allegorical, that's one heck of a fine egg you crafted.

Why not just do it on an elaborate pedestal with natural lighting and let it 'be' the focus all on it's own? Items such as the egg wouldn't need the fluff to be interesting...my 2cents

It is a beautiful object electro and I think any image you make, it would need to be the centre of attention. All the suggestions would imply that it is something to be viewed in awe and wonderment. So go do it, and we'll all be here waiting to see what you come up with. 8) Catlin

My .02 coming up!! I like Electro's idea. Maybe as a nod to accuracy show the old, liver spotted hands of the shopkeeper holding the egg as he (or she) waits for the people in the coach outside the window. The lady is just stepping out, while the gentleman looks down in disgust at the young girl dressed in rags that stands, shivering, near the window trying to catch a glimpse of the egg, her face and hands leaving tiny smudges of dirty snow that melt into fine trails of filthy water. The girl's father dashes across the street, hand outstretched, to pull his wandering daughter away from the wealthy man before he is too offended. Sorry, got carried away. Sounds like a nice scene to me though. Mike

How about the creator of the egg (in his "studio" or whatever they worked in back then) holding it up to the light in admiration of a job well done? Or have him putting a finishing touch on it?

Miden1138, that wouldn't be much of a nod. The Faberge family were much more than "shopkeepers". I think the idea of the craftsman in his studio, perhaps even showing his creation to Faberge himself (and to the nobleman who created the commission ... although that would be a stretch, since the nobility seldom mingled with the craftsman during that period). But then you know ... maybe I've over analyzed this to death. Let the man craft whatever scene strikes his fancy.

Jut my 0.02p......How about putting a string of pearls inside the egg? Another idea for a scene.....the egg on display on a mantlepiece above a roaring fire.....admired by the lady and gentleman of the house.....

Electroglyph, I'll not add to all these wonderful ideas being handed out. I'll just say that the egg is beautiful and just about anything you decide to do with it will be a bonus.

OMG!!! I absolutely LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! Well done my fellow Brycer!! :-)

Well, it was supposed to be a surprise..! Well done.

Excellent work on the Faberge egg, and I love your window!

Your setting is beautiful electro, all the sparkle and the candle light is just wonderful. 8)