Record $30.2 Million Sale of 1913 Fabergé Imperial Winter Egg
Summary:
Christie’s auction house sold the rare 1913 Fabergé Imperial Winter Egg – commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II for his mother Empress Maria Feodorovna – for £22.9 million ($30.2 million), setting a new auction record. Crafted from rock crystal with platinum snowflakes and diamond accents, this objet d’art contains a removable basket surprise with quartz anemones. Designed by Alma Pihl (a rarity for female jewelers in her era), the egg represents both imperial Romanov extravagance and early 20th-century craftsmanship. This marks its third record-setting auction since rediscovery in 1994, underscoring its status as a crown jewel among surviving imperial eggs.
What This Means for You:
- Art Investment Insight: The 19% price premium over Christie’s £20M estimate signals sustained demand for museum-caliber Russian imperial artifacts among ultra-high-net-worth collectors
- Fraud Prevention: Verify provenance through Fabergé Research Archive authentication when evaluating pre-revolutionary jewelry acquisitions
- Market Indicator: Record prices for private-held imperial eggs (only 7 remain) suggest intensified competition ahead of 2026 Romanov dynasty anniversary events
- Expert Warning: Historic liquidity events like this often trigger counterfeit production waves – insist on gemological certification from GIA or HRD Antwerp
Original Post:
A Fabergé Imperial ‘Winter Egg’ commissioned for Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, sold for a record £22.9 ($30.2 million) at Christie’s in London on Tuesday, the auction house has announced.
According to Christie’s, the public sale lasted about three minutes, and the buyer was not identified.
The 1913 egg was made for Nicholas II to give his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna, as an Easter gift. It was carved from rock crystal and decorated with platinum and rose-cut diamond-set snowflake motifs, the auction house said, with a base designed as melting ice.
Inside is a removable “surprise” – a diamond-set platinum basket holding carved quartz wood anemones with nephrite leaves and garnet centers.
The price exceeded Christie’s presale estimate of more than £20 million, Reuters reported.
“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 for Fabergé and Russian works of art, told the outlet.
The ‘Winter Egg’ was designed – unusually for the time – by a woman jeweler, Alma Pihl. Legend has it that Pihl, the niece of Fabergé’s chief jeweler, Albert Holmstrom, got the idea after watching ice crystals form on a shop window at her workshop.
Fabergé’s gem-studded eggs were made for Nicholas II and his predecessor, Alexander III, who presented them as Easter gifts to members of the imperial family. Each typically took about a year to design and produce, and the tsars generally commissioned a new, lavish piece soon after the previous one was delivered.
The historic St. Petersburg jeweler made the imperial eggs for Russia’s Romanov family, and 43 are known to survive. The ‘Winter Egg’ is one of seven still in private hands, while the rest are either missing or held by institutions and museums.
The Winter Egg disappeared in 1975 and was rediscovered in 1994, according to the auction house. Christie’s has sold it twice before – in Geneva in 1994 and New York in 2002 – setting record prices on both occasions, Reuters reported. The Rothschild Fabergé Egg fetched $18.5 million in 2007.
Extra Information:
● Christie’s Fabergé Egg Timeline – Official authentication records and original sketches from House of Fabergé archives
● Fabergé Research on Alma Pihl – Detailed biography of the female artisan behind 7 imperial eggs
People Also Ask About Fabergé Imperial Eggs:
- Which museum holds the most Fabergé eggs? The Kremlin Armory Museum (10 eggs) and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (5 eggs) lead institutional collections.
- How many missing imperial eggs exist? Eight eggs remain unaccounted for since the 1917 revolution, including the 1886 Hen Egg with Sapphire Pendant.
- What makes Alma Pihl’s designs unique? As one of few female Fabergé artisans, Pihl pioneered geometric modernism in jewelry, departing from traditional baroque styles.
- How to verify authentic Fabergé? Cross-reference serial marks with Fabergé Gemological Laboratory records and material analysis of guilloché enameling techniques.
Expert Opinion:
“This £22.9 million hammer price confirms imperial Fabergé as blue-chip assets outperforming traditional investments,” observes Dr. Valentin Skurlov, Russian Imperial Court historian. “The 23% annual appreciation since its 2002 sale signals systematic undervaluation of female-designed artifacts in decorative arts markets.”
Key Terms for Market Researchers:
- Russian Imperial provenance authentication standards
- Fabergé egg investment portfolio diversification
- Alma Pihl jewelry designer market impact
- Pre-revolutionary objet d’art CITES compliance
- Christie’s luxury collectibles auction trends
- Romanov dynasty artifact due diligence
- Rock crystal nephrite gemological valuation metrics
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