Turning a tiny lever disguised as a fruit, hidden among the leaves of the bay tree, activates the hinged circular top of the tree and a feathered songbird rises and flaps its wings, turns its head, opens its beak and sings.

[1] In 1917, the egg was confiscated by the Russian Provisional Government and moved from the Anichkov Palace to the Kremlin.

[1] In 1934, Wartski sold it to Allan Gibson Hughes for £950, buying it back from his estate in 1939 after his death.

The egg has a fitted case inscribed with the initials A. G. H. which is probably attributable to this period of ownership.

Vekselberg purchased some nine Imperial eggs, as part of the collection, for almost $100 million [5] The egg is now part of the Victor Vekselberg Collection, owned by The Link of Times Foundation and housed in the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.