A stunning Fabergé egg, created for the mother of Russia's last tsar, has been sold for a staggering £22,895,000 at Christie's auction house in London, setting a new world record for the famed jeweller's work.
The Imperial History of a Masterpiece
Known as the Winter egg, this exquisite object was commissioned in 1913 by Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. It stands as one of the most opulent creations ever produced by the House of Fabergé, the pre-eminent Russian jeweller of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The egg itself is crafted from rock crystal, its interior engraved with a delicate frost pattern. The exterior is adorned with intricate motifs of snowflakes, created from rose-cut diamonds set in platinum. This piece was part of the personal collection of imperial gifts owned by the Russian, Danish, and British royal families.
A Tumultuous Journey Through History
The egg's history mirrors the turbulence of 20th-century Russia. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, it was seized and moved from St Petersburg to the Kremlin armoury in Moscow alongside other royal treasures. In the 1920s, the Soviet government began selling off art to raise funds, and the Winter egg eventually found its way to the London dealer Wartski.
In 1934, it was sold to a British collector for £1,500. Remarkably, the egg was then lost to the public eye for two decades between 1975 and 1994, before resurfacing at Christie's, where it sold for £6.8 million. It returned to the same auction house in 2002, fetching £7.1 million.
Setting a New Auction Benchmark
The recent sale price of nearly £23 million shatters the previous world auction record for a Fabergé piece, which was set in 2007 when the Rothschild egg sold for £8.9 million. According to Christie's, this marks the third time the Winter egg has achieved a record-breaking price for Fabergé, underlining its enduring allure for serious collectors.
Margo Oganesian, Christie’s head of department for Fabergé and Russian works of art, stated: "Christie’s is honoured to have been entrusted with the sale of the exquisite Winter egg by Fabergé for the third time in our history."
She added, "Today’s result reaffirms the enduring significance of this masterpiece and celebrates the rarity and brilliance of what is widely regarded as one of Fabergé’s finest creations. With only a handful of imperial Easter eggs remaining in private hands, this was an exceptional and historic opportunity for collectors."
