Fabergé Egg Reclaims Record with $30.2m Price Tag
December 03, 25
(IDEX Online) - Fabergé's iconic Winter Egg, carved from rock crystal for a Russian tsar in 1913 and studded with over 4,000 diamonds sold yesterday (2 December) for $30.2m and reclaimed its world record.
The same egg set the world record for the highest price paid at auction for a Fabergé egg on two previous occasions - selling for $9.1m at Christie's Geneva in 1994, and for $9.6m at Christie's New York in 2002.
On this occasion it sold at Christie's London, to an anonymous buyer after a three-minute bidding battle. The pre-sale estimate was $27m.
It smashed the auction record for a Fabergé egg, which was held by the 1902 Rothschild Egg. It sold for $11.9m at Christie's London in 2007.
"Today's result sets a new world auction record for a work by Fabergé," said Margo Oganesian, Christie's head of department, Fabergé and Russian works of art, "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."
The four-inch high Winter Egg was an Easter gift from Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, to his mother.
It reveals a surprise inside of a platinum double-handled trelliswork basket of carved quartz flowers, studded with rose-cut diamonds.
A total of 50 Imperial Easter Eggs were produced by the House of Fabergé between 1885 and 1916.
Of those, 43 eggs are still believed to exist, most now housed in major museums around the world, with only seven (including the Winter Egg) remaining in private hands.
Christie's described it as "among the most lavish and artistically inventive of the 50 imperial eggs made by the House of Fabergé."
The Winter Egg was the highlight of The Winter Egg and Important Works by from a Princely Collection and the Old Masters Evening Sale, which raised a total of $53.5m.
Pic, courtesy Christie's, shows The Winter Egg, with the flower surprise that is hidden inside.