LONDON - A Faberge Imperial Winter Egg, commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his mother, heads to auction next week where it could set a record for the third time with a price estimate of more than $26 million.
Carved in rock crystal and adorned with rose-cut diamond-set platinum snowflake decorations, the Winter Egg is considered one of Faberge's finest creations for the Imperial family, according to Christie's.
Sitting on a crystal base made to look like melting ice, the egg is engraved inside with a frost design. It was designed to open up to reveal a surprise - an intricately made bouquet of flowers.
The egg is on offer at the December 2 "The Winter Egg and Important Works by Faberge from a Princely Collection" sale during Christie's "Classic Week" of auctions. It is listed with a "price estimate on request; in excess of 20 million pounds" ($26.45 million).
"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, Faberge and Russian works of art, told Reuters.
"It was commissioned in 1913 as a present from Nicholas II to his mother, Maria Feodorovna. And it's amazing in its design, in its craftsmanship, the technique that Faberge used, the history behind it."
Christie's previously sold the Winter Egg in Geneva in 1994 and New York in 2002. Both times, it set a world record price for a Faberge item sold at auction. In New York, it went for $9.6 million.
In 2007, the Rothschild Faberge Egg sold for $18.5 million at a Christie's auction.
The sale is one of several Christie's is hosting during its "Classic Week", running December 2-11.
Among the highlights of its "Old Masters Evening Sale", also on December 2, is Dutch artist Gerrit Dou's first depiction of a musician, "The Flute Player". It has an estimate of 2 million to 3 million pounds.
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