Fabergé Egg Cracks Auction Record
A stunning rock crystal egg fit for a queen (more accurately, an empress) set a new record price for the Fabergé icons.
Fabergé is one of the names that immediately suggests luxury, especially when it comes to the company’s famous eggs. One of the most extraordinary of these eggs, the Winter Egg commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II in 1913, sold at Christie’s auction house in London for £22.9 million ($30.2 million), a new auction record.
The egg was the top lot at Christie’s “The Winter Egg and Important Works by Fabergé from a Princely Collection” live auction on December 2. Thanks to its exquisite craftsmanship, precious materials, and significant history, it was certain to be the star of the auction.
Even among Fabergé's works, the Winter Egg stands out. Carved from rock crystal and standing on a matching base that resembles a block of ice, the egg features frost designs engraved on the inside and snowflakes on the exterior, crafted from platinum and rose-cut diamonds. Thanks to a concealed hinge, it opens up to reveal a treasure inside; after all, it was an Easter gift from Emperor Nicholas II (1868-1918) to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. But while most of us common people enjoy Easter eggs with chocolate inside, an imperial family’s treats are a bit more expensive—and more permanent. The Winter Egg features a 3 1/4-inch-tall platinum basket set with diamonds, filled with a bouquet of tiny gold and gemstone flowers.
The naturalistic design, uncommon among Fabergé Imperial eggs, was created by Alma Pihil, an artist from a family of Finnish jewelers. She was hired by Fabergé, where several of her relatives worked, at age 20, and created designs in her spare time. Her uncle Albert Holmström, a workmaster at Fabergé, crafted the Winter Egg from one of her designs.
The egg's design is especially appropriate for an Easter gift, not just because it is an egg. The wintry shell opens to the first flowers of spring, conveying the holiday’s message of rebirth and resurrection as it captures the seasonal change around Easter.
In its historical context, however, the Winter Egg can be seen as the end of an era. Shortly after Nicholas II gave it to his mother, the Russian Revolution broke out. The emperor abdicated in 1917, and the imperial family’s Fabergé eggs went to the Kremlin Armory for safekeeping. Throughout the 20th century, the Soviet regime sold many of the eggs.
The Winter Egg is one of the 43 known surviving Fabergé Imperial eggs. It was initially purchased by an English collector. It has been sold twice at previous Christie’s auctions, once in Geneva in 1994 and once in New York in 2002. It achieved record prices for Fabergé at both auctions. With its new record price, that is one tradition the Winter Egg has kept.
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