Lillian Thomas was born in 1876, probably in Philadelphia. Very little is still known about her early life.

Near the turn of the century, Pratt moved with her mother to Tacoma, Washington, where she likely met General Motors executive John Lee Pratt. The couple married and lived in Delaware and New York before turning to Mr. Pratt's native Virginia.

This is the fork that Mrs. Pratt bought on January 25, 1933 from a Lord & Taylor department store. VMFA houses an extensive archive of material related to Mrs. Pratt’s collection, including invoices, price tags, letters, and other documents that provide background information about individual objects and the times in which she was collecting.

Fork
Russian, late 19th century
Silver-gilt, mother of pearl
Bequest of Lillian Thomas Pratt,
47.20.381

This silver frame is the first Fabergé object acquired by Lillian Pratt. It contains an original photograph of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Tsar Nicholas II’s uncle, and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Their crowned signatures (in Russian Cyrillic letters) appear to the sides of their photograph. The frame’s top edge is surmounted by a crowned enamel coat of arms of the city of Moscow. The dates (1891-1904) engraved below the photograph refer to the fourteenth anniversary of Sergei’s governorship of Moscow.

FABERGÉ FIRM
Russian, 1842-1917
Frame, 1899-190
Silver, enamel, plastic glass
Original photograph of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth

The Imperial Red Cross Egg was presented in 1915 by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, as a tribute to her service as head of the Russian Red Cross. Although this egg is less costly than others, due to the wartime conditions, Fabergé created a stunning effect with five bands of white guilloché enamel, each with a different pattern.

The Imperial Peter the Great Easter Egg was presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in 1903. It commemorates the 200th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg by Tsar Peter the Great.

Tsar Nicholas II gave the Imperial Rock Crystal Easter Egg to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna as an Easter gift in 1896. It was their second Easter together — just two months before their coronation.

The Imperial Tsarevich Easter Egg was presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in 1912. The egg is cleverly constructed to appear as if it is carved from a single piece of lapis lazuli. It actually has six lapis lazuli sections. The joints are concealed under the elaborate gold decorations that include double-headed eagles, a symbol of imperial Russia.

The Imperial Pelican Easter Egg was presented by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, in 1898. The egg commemorates the 100th anniversary of the charities and educational institutions she directed, which were founded by an earlier Russian empress who also took the name Maria Feodorovna (Alexander I’s mother, who was born Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, 1759–1828).

Jointly funded by Judge John Barton Payne, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Federal Works Progress Administration, and private donors, construction on VMFA was completed in 1935 and the museum opened to the public on January 16, 1936.

Mrs. Pratt continued to purchase items through the mid-1940s. One July 21, 1947, at the age of 71, Mrs. Pratt died at Chatham Manor in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Although the gift was unexpected, the Pratts had a number of connections with VMFA, including Mr. Pratt's service as a trustee member.

There were six annual exhibitions of the eggs every Easter from 1949-1954. The first permanent gallery installation opened on December 17, 1954.

Mrs. John D. Butzner, Jr., a family friend of the Pratts, noted, “One of the things… that I remember very much was Mr. Pratt’s devotion to Mrs. Pratt. He felt that [the exhibition] was going to be a wonderful memorial to Mrs. Pratt and he wanted to do everything he could to make it as pleasant and delightful a memorial as possible."