Auction: The Winter Egg of Fabergé sold for 22.9 million pounds at Christie's

New record for a work of art Fabergé : the Winter Egg, One of the 43 remaining imperial eggs has just been sold at auction. 22.9 million pounds (approximately 26 million euros) at Christie's in London, setting the highest price ever achieved for a creation of the Maison Russian. This piece, commissioned in 1913 by the Tsar Nicholas II for his mother Maria Feodorovna, it further cements the almost mythical status of eggs Fabergé on the art market.

A legendary legacy

Made between 1885 and 1917 for the Romanovs, the eggs of Fabergé embody the pinnacle of Russian imperial goldsmithing, combining techniques, precious materials and narrative imagination. Of the fifty or so known imperial eggs, only 43 have been located today, which fuels extreme rarity and multiplies the fascination of international collectors.

Each imperial egg is designed as a unique jewel-sculpture, with its own history, its own setting and its "surprise" hiddenThis makes them icons comparable to masterpieces of French jewelry or the great masters of painting. The Winter Egg, often described as the pinnacle of production Fabergé, synthesizes this tradition into an aesthetic of almost abstract modernity.

One piece Fabergé multifaceted in value

Estimated at over £20 million, the Winter Egg far exceeded its estimate with a hammer price of 22.895 million pounds, including fees, realizing a new world record for a work of art Fabergé. It thus surpasses previous highs achieved by other imperial eggs and confirms collectors' appetite for iconic pieces with a museum pedigree.

Its value is based on a set of criteria: rarity (one of the very few imperial eggs still in private hands), origin prestigious (the Romanovs), conservation exemplary and media aura of an object that had already set a record at previous sales in the early 2000s. The result of Christie's "Classic Week," where the section Fabergé reached nearly 28 million pounds, and shows how the Winter Egg is boosting an entire market segment dedicated to Russian decorative arts.

Symbolism and Tsarist narrative surrounding the Winter Egg

Designed in 1913, the Winter Egg celebrates the fragile beauty of frost and snowy landscapes, metaphor for an empire at its peak of its refinement, on the eve of its collapse. Commissioned by Nicholas II for Easter, it is part of a tradition of imperial gifts mixing Orthodox piety, court codes and demonstration of dynastic power.

The melting ice setting, the snowflakes, and the basket of white anemones hidden inside can be interpreted as a miniature story on the passage of time, the fragility of nature, and, in retrospect, the end of a world. This narrative dimension, inseparable from the tragic story of the Romanovs, reinforces the emotional power of the object and directly contributes to its symbolic and commercial value.

The eggs of Fabergé : a jewelry feat

Carved from the rock crystalThe egg is engraved inside with a frost design, while the outside is covered with snowflakes. in platinum set with diamonds, surmounted by'a moonstone engraved with the date 1913'The base, also made of rock crystal, evokes a block of melting ice, animated by streams of platinum set with pink diamonds, forming an ensemble of exceptional technical virtuosity.

Inside, the "surprise" comes in the form of a tiny basket made of platinum set with diamonds, adorned with white quartz carved into anemones and gemstone leaves, an extreme demonstration of miniature sculpture and gem setting.

Through its interplay of transparency, light, and contrast, the Winter Egg emerges as a direct source of inspiration for contemporary High Jewelry, which showcases rock crystal in its designs. transparency games, an ornamental stone considered less valuable and very little used.

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