A rare Fabergé “Winter Egg” made for Russia’s imperial family sold for 22.9 million pounds ($30.2 million) at Christie’s in London. Christie’s says the sale sets a new world record for any Fabergé piece.
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A crystal egg with a spring surprise
The 4-inch rock-crystal egg is one of only seven imperial Fabergé eggs still in private hands. It’s carved with a platinum snowflake pattern and set with about 4,500 tiny diamonds. Inside, it opens to a jeweled basket of quartz flowers meant to symbolize spring.
The final price surpasses the $18.5 million paid at a 2007 Christie’s sale for another Fabergé egg, making this the highest price ever achieved for a Fabergé item.
Created for Czar Nicholas II
Fabergé produced more than 50 eggs for Russia’s royal family between 1885 and 1917. This one was commissioned in 1913 by Czar Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. It was designed by Alma Pihl — one of only two imperial eggs she created.
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Lost, found and sold again, repeatedly
After the Russian Revolution, the new Soviet authorities sold the egg for 450 pounds. It vanished for years, resurfaced at Christie’s in 1994 for more than 7 million Swiss francs, and sold again in 2002 for $9.6 million. Each auction has set a new record.
Margo Oganesian of Christie’s called it the “Mona Lisa” of decorative arts. Only 43 imperial Fabergé eggs are known to survive, most in museums.
