Craftsman Peter Carl Faberge and his company created more than 50 of the eggs for Russia<\/a>‘s imperial royal family between 1885 and 1917, each elaborately unique and containing a hidden surprise.<\/p>\n The Winter Egg opens to reveal a removable tiny basket of quartz flowers symbolising spring.<\/p>\n Image: Tsar Nicholas II commissioned the egg for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, as an Easter present in 1913.<\/p>\n It was one of two created by female designer Alma Pihl. Her other egg is owned by the UK royal family.<\/p>\n The Romanov royal family ruled Russia for 300 years before the 1917 revolution ousted it. Nicholas and his family were executed in 1918.<\/p>\n The \u00a322.9m sale price topped the \u00a38.9m paid at a 2007 Christie’s auction for another Faberge egg created for the Rothschild banking family.<\/p>\n The Winter Egg had been previously bought by a London dealer for as little as \u00a3450 when the cash-strapped Communist authorities sold off some of Russia’s artistic treasures in the 1920s.<\/p>\n While it has changed hands several times, it was believed to be lost until it was auctioned by Christie’s in 1994 and then again in 2002 – both times for record amounts for a Faberge item.<\/p>\n Read more from Sky News: Margo Oganesian, the head of Christie’s Russian art department, called the egg “the ‘Mona Lisa’ for decorative arts”, a superb example of craft and design.<\/p>\n Christie’s said it is “widely regarded as one of the most original and artistically inventive Easter eggs that Faberge created for the Imperial family”.<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/skynews-winter-egg-faberge_7098801.jpg\")
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\n This egg opens to reveal a removable tiny basket of quartz flowers symbolising spring. Pic: AP<\/p>\n
Titanic watch sells for record \u00a31.7m<\/a>
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Royal Faberge found at market<\/a><\/p>\n