A vintage jewel-studded Fabergé egg that belonged to the mother of Russia’s last emperor has been sold for a record £22.9m in London.
The Winter egg was commissioned in 1913 by Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and is described as one of the most lavish of Fabergé’s imperial creations.
Peter Carl Fabergé is considered the greatest Russian jeweller of the late 19th century and early 20th century. The royal collection of works were personal gifts owned by the Russian, Danish and British royal families.
The Winter egg is a rock crystal engraved with a frost design on the inside while the outside has rose-cut diamond-set platinum snowflake motifs.
On Tuesday it was sold for £22,895,000, beating the world record auction for a Fabergé. The previous record was set in 2007 when the Rothschild egg was sold for £8.9m.
According to Christie’s, the auction is the third time the Winter egg has set a record-breaking price for a Fabergé piece. It has been sold numerous times as its history attracts collectors.
After the Russian Revolution in 1917, the egg was taken from St Petersburg to the Kremlin armoury in Moscow alongside other valuable possessions of the royal family.
In the 1920s the Soviet government began selling off art treasures from the Hermitage Museum and other collections, often for a fraction of their value. It was later acquired by Wartski of London and in 1934 sold to a British collector for £1,500.
For two decades between 1975 and 1994 the egg was believed to be missing, before being sold for £6.8m at Christie’s. Eight years later in 2002 the auction house sold it again for £7.1m.
Margo Oganesian, Christie’s head of department for Fabergé and Russian works of art, said: “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.
“Today’s result sets a new world auction record for a work by Fabergé, reaffirming the enduring significance of this masterpiece and celebrating the rarity and brilliance of what is widely regarded as one of Fabergé’s finest creations, both technically and artistically.
“With only a handful of imperial Easter eggs remaining in private hands, this was an exceptional and historic opportunity for collectors to acquire a work of unparalleled importance.”
