A diamond-encrusted crystal Faberge egg that once belonged to the Russian royal family has sold for a record £22.9m ($30.2m) in London.
Christie’s auction house said The Winter Egg – considered one of the famed jeweler’s most beautiful creations – was bought by an undisclosed bidder on Tuesday.
Encrusted with 4,500 diamonds, it was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II in 1913 as a gift to his mother.
The previous record for a Fabergé egg was £8.9 million paid at auction in 2007.
“Today’s result sets a new world auction record for a Fabergé work, confirming the enduring importance of this masterpiece,” the AFP news agency quoted Christie’s Margo Oganesian as saying.
The 8.2 cm high (3.2 in) egg was created by Carl Fabergé, based on the design of Alma Theresia Pihl, one of only two female workmasters at the Saint Petersburg jewelery company.
It was carved from rock crystal and decorated with rose-cut diamonds, as well as platinum snowflake motifs.
The egg opens to reveal a small basket of white quartz flowers inside.
The House of Fabergé has made only 50 eggs for Russia’s imperial Romanov family, and the Imperial Winter Egg is one of only seven left in private hands.
Others are either missing or owned by institutions or museums.
The eggs continued to be made from 1885 until Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne in 1917.
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