A legendary Fabergé egg, crafted for the mother of Russia's last tsar, has been sold for a world-shattering sum in the heart of London. The Winter Egg fetched an astonishing £22,895,000 at Christie's auction house on Tuesday, 2 December 2025, demolishing the previous record for a Fabergé work by over £13 million.
The Story of an Imperial Masterpiece
Commissioned in 1913 by Emperor Nicholas II for his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the Winter Egg is celebrated as one of the most opulent creations to ever emerge from the House of Fabergé. The egg is meticulously carved from flawless rock crystal. Its interior features a delicate engraved frost pattern, while the exterior is lavishly decorated with platinum snowflake motifs set with rose-cut diamonds.
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 that the result reaffirms the "enduring significance of this masterpiece" and its status as one of Fabergé's finest technical and artistic achievements.
A Tumultuous Journey Through History
The egg's provenance reads like a thriller. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, it was moved from St Petersburg to the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow. In the 1920s, the Soviet government began selling off imperial treasures. The Winter Egg was acquired by London antique dealers Wartski for just £450, later sold to a British collector in 1934 for £1,500.
It then vanished from public view, believed lost between 1975 and 1994. Its dramatic reappearance at Christie's in 1994 saw it sell for a then-record 7.26 million Swiss francs. It set another record at the same auction house in 2002 for $9.58 million, making Tuesday's sale the third time it has broken the Fabergé price record.
What the Record Sale Means for Collectors
This historic sale underscores the extraordinary rarity and value of imperial Fabergé eggs remaining in private hands. Oganesian emphasised the sale was an "exceptional and historic opportunity for collectors to acquire a work of unparalleled importance." The monumental price leap from the previous record—set by the £8.9 million Rothschild Egg in 2007—signals a fiercely competitive market for the ultimate symbols of craftsmanship and royal history.
The auction result not only cements the Winter Egg's legendary status but also highlights London's enduring position as a global capital for the sale of the world's most coveted art and historical objects.
