Fabergé egg expected to fetch £20 million at auction

Christie’s expects the Winter egg, one of just seven of Peter Carl Fabergé’s creations still in private hands, to sell for more than £20 million when it lands on the auction block Tuesday.

The 10cm-tall egg is made from finely carved rock crystal, covered in a delicate snowflake motif wrought in platinum and 4500 tiny diamonds. It opens to reveal a removable tiny basket of bejeweled quartz flowers symbolising spring.

CNN quotes it as the “greatest of them all” despite its small size. The prices are being pushed up by their scarcity, with so few likely to be placed on the private market.

Of these, some are in “fairly sacrosanct” collections, according to Fabergé expert Kieran McCarthy, meaning only three remain in what he called “truly private” hands and could ever be realistically acquired. “They are incredibly rare,” said McCarthy, who is co-managing director at Wartski, a British antique jewelry dealer specializing in the works of Peter Carl Fabergé. “And they are getting even rarer.”

The beauty of the workmanship is, of course, not in doubt. It is made from a block of pure quartz and appears carved from ice: “Engraved snowflakes sparkle with rose-cut diamonds; platinum trickles down the base as if it were thawing in spring sunshine.”

Winter was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II for his mother, the Danish princess Maria Feodorovna. Fabergé had artistic freedom—the Romanovs enjoyed surprises, at least before the 20th century—but was perpetually under commission for the delicate eggs. From Wikipedia:

The price in 1913 was 24,700 rubles, the most expensive Easter egg ever made. The egg left Russia after the Revolution, and ended up in the collection of Mr. Brian Ledbrooke, Esq. It was first sold at auction in 1994 at Christie’s in Geneva for $5.6 million, the world record at that time for a Faberge item sold at auction. The egg sold for US$9.6 million in an auction at Christie’s in New York City in 2002. It was reported that the buyer was Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar. As part of the Classics Week series of auctions by Christie’s, the egg is set to be sold on auction on 2 December 2025, with its estimate to be in excess of £20 million.

A happy Christmas for someone this year!

Previously:
• Fabergé Fractals
• Russian police seize Putin, Medvedev painting