A jewel-encrusted Faberge egg created for the mother of Russia’s final tsar has fetched a record-breaking £22.9million at auction in London.
The Winter Egg was commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II in 1913 as a present for Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.
The jewel-studded piece is considered among the most luxurious of all Faberge’s imperial works.
The piece is intricately carved from rock crystal, featuring a frost pattern engraved on its interior.
The Winter Egg was commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II in 1913 as a present for Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna
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Its outer surface is adorned with platinum snowflake designs set with rose-cut diamonds.
Auctioneer Christie’s confirmed the egg sold on Tuesday for £22,895,000, surpassing the previous Faberge world auction record by more than £13million.
That earlier record was established in 2007 when the Rothschild Egg fetched £8.9million.
This marks the third occasion the Winter Egg has set a record price for a Faberge work, according to Christie’s.
Auctioneer Christie’s confirmed the egg sold on Tuesday for £22,895,000
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Christie’s head of department for Faberge and Russian works of art, Margo Oganesian said: “Christie’s is honoured to have been entrusted with the sale of the exquisite Winter Egg by Faberge for the third time in our history.”
She added: “Today’s result sets a new world auction record for a work by Faberge, reaffirming the enduring significance of this masterpiece and celebrating the rarity and brilliance of what is widely regarded as one of Faberge’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.”
Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the egg was moved from St Petersburg to the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow alongside numerous other royal treasures.
This marks the third occasion the Winter Egg has set a record price for a Faberge work
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During the 1920s, Soviet authorities sold off artworks from the Hermitage Museum and other collections, frequently at prices far below their true worth.
London antiques dealer Wartski purchased the Winter Egg for £450, subsequently selling it to a British collector in 1934 for £1,500. It later passed to another owner.
The egg was thought lost for twenty years from 1975 until 1994, when Christie’s sold it for a then-world record of 7,263,500 Swiss francs (£6.8 million).
Christie’s sold it again in 2002 for another world record of $9,579,000 (£7.1million) at the time.
The eggs were produced from 1885 up until Tsar Nicholas II was forcefully removed from the throne in 1917
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Fabergé created only 50 imperial eggs for Russia’s Romanov dynasty.
The Winter Egg is among the seven still held privately in the world today.
The remaining eggs are either unaccounted for or belong to museums and other institutions.
They were produced from 1885 up until Tsar Nicholas II was forcefully removed from the throne in 1917.