Fabergé Winter Egg Sells for Record 22.9 Million Pounds

A rare Fabergé egg known as the Winter Egg sold for 22.9 million pounds, equivalent to about 30.2 million dollars, at Christie's auction house in London on Tuesday, setting a new record for the highest price paid for a work by the renowned Russian jeweler. The sale, which included the buyer's premium, surpassed the auction house's presale estimate of 20 million pounds and went to an anonymous bidder after a brief three-minute contest.

The Winter Egg, one of only seven imperial Fabergé eggs remaining in private hands, was commissioned in 1913 by Tsar Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. It marked the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty and was purchased originally for 24,600 roubles, one of the highest sums Fabergé ever charged. Crafted primarily from rock crystal to evoke a block of ice dusted with frost, the 10-centimeter-tall egg features an exterior of platinum snowflakes set with approximately 4,500 rose-cut diamonds. Inside, it conceals a surprise typical of Fabergé's designs: a delicate platinum basket holding wood anemones fashioned from white quartz, nephrite and garnets, symbolizing the arrival of spring.