A Faberge Imperial Winter Egg, commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his mother, sold for a record $30 million at auction on Tuesday (December 2), Reuters reports.
Carved in rock crystal and adorned with rose-cut diamond-set platinum snowflake decorations, the Winter Egg is considered one of Faberge's finest creations for the Imperial family, according to Christie's.
Sitting on a crystal base made to look like melting ice, the egg is engraved inside with a frost design. It was designed to open up to reveal a surprise - an intricately made bouquet of flowers.
The egg was on offer at the December 2 "The Winter Egg and Important Works by Faberge from a Princely Collection" sale during Christie's "Classic Week" of auctions. It was listed with a "price estimate on request; in excess of 20 million pounds" ($26.45 million). It sold for 22,895,000 pounds ($30.20 million), the third time it has set a record, Christie's said in a statement on Tuesday.
Christie's previously sold the Winter Egg in Geneva in 1994 and New York in 2002. Both times, it set a world record price for a Faberge item sold at auction. In New York, it went for $9.6 million.
In 2007, the Rothschild Faberge Egg sold for $18.5 million at a Christie's auction.
"This is one of (the) Imperial Easter Eggs created by Faberge for the Romanovs. And the Winter Egg is arguably the best of them all," Margo Oganesian, Christie's head of department, Faberge and Russian works of art, told Reuters at a press preview on November 27.
"It was commissioned in 1913 as a present from Nicholas II to his mother, Maria Feodorovna. And it's amazing in its design, in its craftsmanship, the technique that Faberge used, the history behind it."
The sale is one of several Christie's is hosting during its "Classic Week", running December 2-11.
Among the highlights of its "Old Masters Evening Sale", also on December 2, is Dutch artist Gerrit Dou's first depiction of a musician, "The Flute Player". It has an estimate of 2 million to 3 million pounds.
A Rembrant print worth 1.5 million - 2.5 million pounds, is on offer in the December 3 "Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn - Part III" sale.
