Christie’s
Tracking down the ultimate Faberge Egg
29/03/16 08:48 Filed in: Auctions
Seven missing Faberge eggs still out there waiting to be found
Where does one find the ultimate egg… of the Fabergé kind? The answer may be to search some 1300 auction sites via Barnebys, the worlds biggest and fastest growing auction search engine.
This might be one way to find one of the seven missing jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs, each worth a king’s ranson. Instead of having to trawl through hundreds of auction sites Barnebys will provide you with a list of what you are searching for as well as a history of what similar objects or works of art have sold for at auction.
In the case of Fabergé eggs the Barnebys database provides no fewer than 758 Fabergé eggs sold via Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and many smaller auctioneers - one made over £10m. These wonderful eggs include some with hidden surprises, some that tell the time and some that play music. Very often they were the gift of choice for Emperors, Kings and especially the Tsars to their loved ones.
In total there are no fewer than 57 jewel-bedecked eggs commissioned by the Russian Tsar, as an annual Easter gift for his wife the Tsarina. The first egg was produced in 1885 on the orders of Alexander III of Russia. Maria Feodorovna the Tsarina was so fond of these eggs that Alexander appointed Peter Carl Fabergé to the Royal Warrant. Every Easter, he and his colleagues presented a new egg, totally unique, with a surprise inside. Nicholas II of Russia took over the tradition and went on to provide the unique Easter gifts both to his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna and widowed Czarina.
Pontus Silfverstolpe, co-founder of Barnebys, says: “We know that one egg went with Maria Feodorovna in 1918 when she left the country. The other eggs were forgotten or removed during the Russian Revolution, some of which were stolen. In the 1930s Joseph Stalin sold fourteen eggs through western auction houses to raise much needed money. Today there are 21 eggs left in Russia in the Kremlin Museum.
During WW2 some of the lost eggs were traded for bread and food. Recently an American scrap dealer bought an egg in a flea market which turned out to be one of the eight missing Fabergé eggs. It is expected to sell for around $200m when it comes to auction in London this April.”
In 2004 there was great excitement when the Russian gas and oil billionaire Viktor Vekselberg bought the world's second largest Fabergé collection of nine eggs. He commented to the BBC after the sale: "The religious, spiritual and emotional content captured by these Fabergé eggs touches upon the soul of the Russian people.”
For those of seeking one of those missing gems so beloved by the Tsars it will take time, patience, a great deal of searching and huge amounts of luck. But there are seven lost Fabrgé eggs left out there, somewhere Keeping an eye on Barnebys website may just help to unearth one of those fabled eggs.
For more information please visit www.barnebys.co.uk