A dazzling relic of Russia’s imperial past is returning to the spotlight as Christie’s prepares to auction one of the world’s rarest Fabergé eggs, with an estimated value exceeding £20 million ($26.4 million).
The Winter Egg a 4-inch masterpiece carved from rock crystal and adorned with 4,500 diamonds is one of only seven imperial Fabergé eggs still held in private collections. It will go under the hammer on Tuesday at Christie’s London headquarters, marking one of the most anticipated decorative arts sales in years.
Described by Christie’s Russian art department head Margo Oganesian as the “Mona Lisa” of decorative arts, the egg features a platinum snowflake motif and opens to reveal a jeweled basket of quartz flowers symbolizing the arrival of spring. Oganesian humorously compared the intricate reveal to a “luxurious Kinder Surprise.”
The egg was designed in 1913 by Alma Pihl one of only two female designers in Fabergé’s history and commissioned by Czar Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Pihl’s only other imperial egg now belongs to the British royal family.
Crafted under the direction of famed jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé, imperial eggs were produced between 1885 and 1917 for Russia’s ruling Romanov dynasty. Each piece contained a unique surprise, a tradition begun by Czar Alexander III and carried on by Nicholas II.
The Winter Egg’s history mirrors Russia’s turbulent past. Sold for just £450 in the 1920s when Soviet authorities liquidated imperial treasures, it later vanished from public knowledge for nearly 20 years before Christie’s auctioned it in 1994 for more than 7 million Swiss francs. It changed hands again in 2002 for $9.6 million.
Its upcoming sale is expected to break the standing record of $18.5 million, set in 2007 for another Fabergé egg created for the Rothschild family.
Of the original imperial collection, 43 are known to survive most housed in museums worldwide. The Winter Egg remains one of the few still attainable by private collectors, adding to the intense global interest surrounding Tuesday’s auction.
