The Winter Egg, a 1913 masterpiece commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II for his mother, will go on auction at Christie’s in London on December 2, with an estimated value exceeding £20 million ($26 million).
This 4-inch creation of rock crystal and diamonds is set to become the most expensive Fabergé egg ever sold at auction, surpassing the $18.5 million fetched by the Rothschild Egg in 2007.
Carved from rock crystal and adorned with 4,500 rose-cut diamonds set into platinum snowflake patterns, the Winter Egg opens to reveal a basket of white-quartz flowers symbolizing the arrival of spring. It is one of only seven imperial eggs remaining in private collections, out of 43 known surviving examples.
One of the most costly pieces Fabergé ever produced, it originally cost 24,600 rubles in 1913. Christie’s previously sold it in Geneva in 1994 for $5.6 million, and again in New York in 2002 for $9.6 million.
Original Post
Join @TranslatedRussianNews