The iconic Fabergé Winter Egg given by Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, on Easter in 1913 is being auctioned off by a Qatari Prince at Christie’s in London next week!
A Magnificent And Highly Important Imperial Winter Egg by Fabergé, Designed By Alma Theresia Pihl, Workmaster Albert Holmström, St Petersburg, 1913. The finely carved rock crystal egg delicately engraved on the interior with frost design, exterior applied with rose-cut diamond-set platinum snowflake motifs, further decorated with two vertical diamond-set platinum borders concealing a hinge on the side, surmounted by a cabochon moonstone dated ‘1913’; on a rock-crystal base formed as a block of melting ice, applied with rose-cut diamond-set platinum rivulets, centring a platinum pin in the middle to support the egg; the egg opening to reveal the ‘surprise’ suspended from a platinum hook – a double-handled trelliswork platinum basket, set throughout with rose-cut diamonds, filled with finely carved white quartz wood anemones, each flower with gold wire stem and stamens, the centre set with a demantoid garnet, the leaves delicately carved in nephrite, emerging from a bed of gold moss, the base of the basket engraved ‘FABERGÉ 1913’
Commissioned to Fabergé by Emperor Nicholas II (1868-1918) as an Easter gift to his mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928), St Petersburg, 13 April 1913 (24,600 roubles).
Collection of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Anichkov Palace, St Petersburg, between 1913-1917.
Sent by the Provisional Government to the Kremlin Armoury, Moscow, for safekeeping in September 1917.
Selected by the Special Commission in Kremlin and transferred to Gokhran, Moscow, in 1922.
With Wartski, London, acquired in the Soviet Union between 1929-1933 (£450).
Acquired by Napier Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington (1896-1940) in 1934 (£1,500).
Collection of Sir Bernard Eckstein (1894-1948).
Property of the Late Sir Bernard Eckstein; Sotheby’s, London, 8 February 1949, lot 128 (£1,870).
Collection of Arthur Bryan Ledbrook (1895-1974).
Property of a Trust; Christie’s, Geneva, 16 November 1994, lot 464 (CHF 7,263,500, world record price for a Fabergé item sold at auction).
The Winter Egg by Carl Fabergé; Christie’s, New York, 19 April 2002, lot 150 ($9,579,500, world record price for a Fabergé item sold at auction).
The Winter Egg is widely regarded as one of the most lavish and artistically inventive Easter Eggs that Fabergé created for the Imperial family. Finely carved from rock crystal and engraved with frost patterns, its exterior is adorned with diamond-set platinum snowflakes. It rests on a rock crystal base resembling melting ice and opens to reveal a jewelled platinum basket of white quartz anemones.
Commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II in 1913 as an Easter gift to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, at an extraordinary cost of 24,600 roubles, it was the third most expensive piece Fabergé ever made. This rare masterpiece has previously set the world record for a work by Fabergé twice, both times at Christie’s.
Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs have long captivated collectors, symbolising the pinnacle of decorative arts. Their exquisite craftsmanship, the element of surprise hidden within each egg, and their rich historical ties to the opulent Russian Imperial family have fascinated some of the world’s most distinguished collectors across the centuries. Only fifty Imperial Easter Eggs were ever completed by Fabergé, most of which are now housed in leading museums worldwide, with just a handful remaining in exceptionally prestigious private collections.
The Winter Egg is widely regarded as one of the most original and artistically inventive Easter eggs that Fabergé created for the Imperial family. It represents the idea of resurrection capturing the shift from winter’s harshness to the vibrant renewal of spring, and as such has a strong connection to Easter. The egg is finely carved in rock crystal, delicately engraved on the interior with a frost design, while the exterior is applied with diamond-set platinum snowflake motifs. The egg is on a rock-crystal base formed as a block of melting ice, opening to reveal the ‘surprise’ – a jewelled platinum basket, full of finely carved white quartz wood anemones, emerging from a bed of gold moss. It was commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in 1913, the year of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty.
The Winter Egg was designed by Alma Pihl (1888–1976) and executed by her uncle, workmaster Albert Holmström. Alma, the most celebrated female designer at the House of Fabergé, was largely self-taught and exceptionally talented. Her most renowned designs, ‘mosaic’ and ‘snowflake’, were realised in two of the most remarkable Imperial Easter Eggs: the Mosaic Egg of 1914 (now in The Royal Collection, Great Britain), and the present Winter Egg of 1913.
The snowflake design famously emerged when Alma, seeking inspiration, gazed out of her frost-covered workshop window and saw ice crystals forming ‘like a garden of exquisite frozen flowers’. (U. Tillander-Godenhielm, Jewels from Imperial St Petersburg, London, 2012, p. 242). This moment sparked the idea to recreate these delicate frost patterns in rock crystal, platinum, and rose diamonds, leading to a series of jewellery designs for Emanuel Nobel, one of Fabergé’s most important clients, and ultimately culminating in the creation of the Winter Egg for the Imperial family.
Commissioned at an extraordinary cost of 24,600 roubles, the Winter Egg was among the most lavish of Fabergé’s Imperial creations. As with many other Imperial Eggs, it was sold by the Soviet government to generate foreign currency and was acquired by Wartski, London, between 1929-1933. The Egg was subsequently part of several notable British collections and was considered lost since 1975. It was rediscovered in 1994 and sold at Christie’s in Geneva for 7,263,500 Swiss francs – setting a world record for a work by Fabergé. In 2002, Christie’s had the honour of offering it for sale once again in New York, where it achieved another world record, selling for $9,579,500.
The House of Fabergé was founded by Carl Fabergé’s father, Gustav, who established the family business in St Petersburg in 1842. Carl received his jewellery training in France, Germany and Italy before taking control of the business in the early 1870s.
In 1885, Fabergé created the iconic Hen Egg, which opened to reveal a gold yolk containing a small hen, which itself concealed another surprise: a miniature diamond imperial crown and a ruby pendant inside. This remarkable egg was a gift from Emperor Alexander III to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, and marked a significant triumph for the House of Fabergé. This creation was so impressive that, within weeks, Fabergé was appointed official supplier to the Imperial Court.
In 1900, Fabergé moved to larger premises at 24 Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St Petersburg, which became its main workshop, flagship store and home to Carl Fabergé and his family. At that point, more than 700 craftsmen were employed by the firm.
By that time, the tradition of presenting a uniquely designed Fabergé Egg to the Empress for Easter was firmly established. After the death of Alexander III in 1894, his son Nicholas II continued the custom, presenting eggs to both his wife and his mother each Easter. This tradition is well documented by Franz Birbaum, Fabergé’s chief designer. In his 1919 memoirs, he recalls:
The designs of the Easter eggs did not have to be approved by Court and Fabergé was given complete freedom in design and execution[…] About 50 or 60 such eggs were made, and I had to assemble a good half of them. The task was by no means easy, since designs could not be repeated and the egg shape was restrictive. We tried to use the family and other events in Imperial court life to give some meaning to the gift, naturally avoiding political events.
Nearly all these eggs could be opened and contained various little objects as surprises. The manufacture of Imperial Easter eggs was mostly very complicated, since we had to vary the materials, appearance and contents of the eggs to avoid repetitions.
[..] Most Imperial Easter eggs took almost a year to complete. Work began soon after Easter and was hardly finished by Holy Week of the following year.
(quoted in Birbaum’s Memoirs, in G. von Habsburg and M. Lopato, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, London, 1993, pp. 452-453).
Another of Fabergé’s trusted associates, Henry Bainbridge – manager of the Fabergé branch in London – also reflected on the reasons behind the commissioning of the Easter Eggs:
Alexander III wanted above all else happiness for the Empress. And Fabergé had found him the means to obtain it. Surprise! And surprise and wonder so fraught with astonishment and delight that it would break the bonds of the agony which bound the Empress. For half an hour, at any rate, it would ease her nervous strain and direct her thoughts towards a brighter future.
What matter to the Emperor the cost? What matter the form of the surprise? What matter the diamonds, the rubies, and the pearls, so long as he could gain his end? With surprise a new beginning would be made, and with a new beginning would be life, and with life would come hope, the very core of life.
(H.C. Bainbridge, Peter Carl Fabergé, London, 1949, p. 75).
The turn of the century was celebrated with L’Exposition Internationale Universelle in Paris, where Fabergé exhibited a mixture of flower studies, jewellery and the Imperial Easter Eggs. The exhibition greatly enhanced Fabergé’s reputation and renown across Europe. In 1903, Fabergé opened a branch in London, showcasing his most ingenious objects to an international clientele.
During the First World War, precious materials were in short supply and Fabergé cut back its production. Easter Eggs produced during this time were modest. The workshops were repurposed for the production of small arms and medical supplies instead of artistic creations. When the Revolution broke out in October 1917, the firm was nationalised and its remaining stock was confiscated. In autumn 1918 the House of Fabergé was closed and Carl Fabergé had to leave Russia as a courier attached to a foreign embassy. On 24 September 1920, at the age of 74, Fabergé died in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Commissioned by Emperor Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his mother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in 1913, the Winter Egg was priced at 24,600 roubles, making it the third most expensive Imperial Egg produced by Fabergé. The original Fabergé invoice dated 13 April 1913, describes it as follows:
BILL TO HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS THE EMPEROR
13 April 1913Large Egg made of white topaz [a Russian term for high quality rock crystal] decorated with frost motifs set with 4,508 rose diamonds and incrusted in the topaz, with borders set with 360 brilliants, on a topaz base shaped as a rock of ice with icicles set with rose-diamonds. Inside the egg is a small platinum basket decorated with 1,378 rose-diamonds, in it snowdrops of white quartz with nephrite leaves.
24,600 roubles
The history of the Winter Egg is among the best documented of all the Imperial Easter Eggs. On 19-20 September 1917, just before the October Revolution broke out, it was transferred by the Provisional Government to the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow for safekeeping along with many other valuable possessions of the Romanov family. On 8 February 1922 it was selected by the Special Commission for Gokhran (a State Fund that was responsible for managing and selling confiscated Imperial jewels) and was described on the list as ‘A rock crystal egg by Fabergé, decorated to resemble frost on ice, 1913, from an artistic perspective possibly the finest of them all’ (T. Tutova, The Fate of the Palace Treasures of the Russian Imperial House, Moscow, 2015, vol. 2, p. 42).
A number of photographs from the 1920s exist, showing Gokhran employees posing with the Romanov regalia and several Fabergé Easter Eggs, including the Winter Egg. This was the period when the newly established Soviet government began selling art treasures from the nationalised collections, including personal belongings of the Romanovs. In need of money, the regime sold many Imperial Easter Eggs to collectors and dealers in Europe and the United States.
The earliest known publication featuring a photograph of the Winter Egg appears in the 1927 issue of Krasnaya Niva [Red Field] magazine (issue no. 50). The article titled In the Vaults of the State Bank discusses tours organised by Gokhran for foreign buyers and features early photographs of the confiscated Romanov treasures held in the Kremlin’s Diamond Fund. Notably, out of all the Imperial Easter Eggs, only the Winter Egg and the Bay Tree Egg are illustrated in this article, along with the surprises from the Peacock and Coronation Eggs, highlighting the importance of the Winter Egg even at that early time.
In 1929, the Winter Egg was still kept in Gokhran. At some point between 1929 and 1933 it was acquired by Wartski of London for £450. Shortly after it appears in a largely autobiographical book Twice Seven (London, 1933) by Henry Charles Bainbridge, manager of Fabergé’s London branch. Bainbridge includes a photograph of the Winter Egg, and described it as from ‘Fabergé’s original collection’. Later he covers the Winter Egg extensively again in his book Peter Carl Fabergé, Goldsmith and Jeweller to the Russian Imperial Court (London, 1949), which is considered to be the first monograph on Fabergé.
Wartski sold the Egg in 1934 to Napier Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington (1896-1940), a British collector and landowner, for £1,500. The egg later entered the collection of Sir Bernard Eckstein (1894–1948), a prominent British art collector, and was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London in 1949 following his death, where it was purchased by Arthur Bryan Ledbrook (1895–1974) for £1,700.
The Egg disappeared in 1975 after Ledbrook’s death. In 1994 it was rediscovered and sold at Christie’s auction in Geneva the same year, setting a world record for a work by Fabergé at 7,263,500 Swiss francs. Eight years later, on 19 April 2002, the Egg was once again put up for auction at Christie’s New York, where it set another world record of $9,579,500.
The Winter Egg was crafted in the workshop of Albert Holmström, which primarily specialised in jewellery. His father, August Holmström, was appointed principal jeweller to Fabergé in 1857, and upon his death in 1903, Albert succeeded him. The ingenious design of the Winter Egg was created by Albert Holmström’s exceptionally talented niece, Alma Pihl, who also designed the famous Mosaic Egg, which is now part of The Royal Collection.
According to existing invoices from Fabergé and Imperial Court ledgers, the 1914 Mosaic Egg was the most expensive Imperial Egg ever produced by Fabergé, costing 28,300 roubles. The cost of the Catherine the Great Egg, produced the same year, was 26,800 roubles. The 1913 Winter Egg was the third most expensive Egg and was billed at 24,600 roubles. While most imperial Fabergé Eggs drew inspiration from historical styles such as Rococo and Neo-classicism, the Winter Egg stands apart. Both the Mosaic and Winter Eggs, designed by Alma Pihl, are distinctly Fabergé creations, unique in their departure from historical styles.
Alma Pihl came from a distinguished family of jewellers from Finland and was largely self-taught. Her mother, Fanny Holmström, was the daughter of Fabergé’s workmaster, August Holmström, and her father, Oscar Pihl, headed Fabergé’s jewellery workshop in Moscow.
In 1908, at the age of twenty, Alma began working for her uncle Albert Holmström, creating life-size watercolour designs to serve as archival records of the workshop’s creations. In her spare time, she sketched her own designs. One day, during a break, she casually drew some ideas on a piece of paper. Her uncle noticed the sketches on her worktable, picked them up, and shortly after returned with news that they had been approved for production. This marked the beginning of Alma’s career as a designer in Holmström’s workshop, where she developed two of her most iconic designs – the Snowflake and Mosaic motifs (U. Tillander-Godenhielm, Fabergé His Masters and Artisans, Helsinki, 2018, p. 151).
Holmström’s workshop was responsible for several important Imperial Easter Eggs. Both August Holmström and his son Albert were master jewellers, capable of executing the most technically demanding designs. Their exceptional skill, particularly in working with rock crystal, is noted by Fabergé’s chief designer, Franz Birbaum:
The friability of rock crystal demanded of the craftsmen a particular skill, and its setting was entrusted only to the most experienced workmaster. It could not tolerate the slightest heat and the settings were never soldered, even with thin tin, but were assembled with clips and in other ways
(quoted in Birbaum’s Memoirs, in G. von Habsburg and M. Lopato, Fabergé: Imperial Jeweller, London, 1993, p. 457).
The use of platinum was an advance, as it does not tarnish, and its beautiful grey colour enhances the whiteness of diamonds. At the time, platinum did not require hallmarking, and many Easter Eggs, the main feature of which was the jeweller’s work, had no maker’s or assay marks, as is the case with the Winter Egg. The basket itself is engraved on the base ‘FABERGÉ 1913’ and the cabochon moonstone at the top is inscribed with the same date. According to Henry Bainbridge, Fabergé had little interest in marking or hallmarking his creations.
When it came to hardstones and precious stones, Fabergé selected them solely based on the decorative needs of each specific piece. Diamonds were usually rose-cut instead of brilliant-cut to better complement the design’s aesthetic. The Winter Egg is a striking example of this, demonstrating that Fabergé used gems to enhance his artistic vision rather than simply to add value to his creations.
The Rarity of the Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs
Fabergé’s global reputation rests primarily on his unparalleled series of Imperial Easter Eggs, produced between 1885 and 1916. Only fifty of these exquisite Eggs were delivered: ten were created during the reign of Emperor Alexander III between 1885-1894, all of which were gifts from the tsar to his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna.
From 1895 onward, Nicholas II continued the tradition, presenting forty more Eggs to both his mother and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Additionally, one unfinished Egg from 1917, the Constellation Egg, has survived and is now housed in the Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Moscow.
From the imperial series, forty-three Eggs still exist. Most of them are held in major museums around the world with fewer than ten Eggs remaining in private hands.
The appearance of the Winter Egg for sale at Christie’s represents an extraordinary opportunity for the collectors to acquire what is arguably one of Fabergé’s finest creations – a testimony to his prodigious talent and a symbol of the opulent epoch of the Romanovs.
