Rare Fabergé egg made for Russian royalty expected to sell for more than $26 million

A rare crystal and diamond faberg Made for Russia’s ruling family before it was overthrown by the revolution, it will be auctioned, valued at more than $26 million.

Auction house Christie’s says the Winter Egg is just one of seven opulent eggs remaining in private hands. It will go on sale at Christie’s London headquarters on Tuesday.

The 4-inch-tall egg is made of finely cut rock crystal, covered with a delicate snowflake motif crafted in platinum and 4,500 small diamonds. It opens to reveal a small removable basket with jeweled quartz flowers that symbolize spring.

Margo Oganesian, head of Christie’s Russian art department, compared it to a luxurious Kinder Surprise chocolate.

The Winter Egg is a magnificent example of craftsmanship and design, “the ‘Mona Lisa’ of the decorative arts,” Oganesian said.

One of only two created by designer Alma Pihl, the egg was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II for his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, as an Easter gift in 1913. Pihl’s other egg is owned by the British royal family.

Artisan Peter Carl Fabergé and his company created more than 50 eggs for Russia’s imperial family between 1885 and 1917, each elaborately unique and containing a hidden surprise. Tsar Alexander III started the tradition by giving an egg to his wife every Easter. His successor, Nicholas II, extended the gift to his wife and mother.

The Romanov royal family ruled Russia for 300 years before being overthrown by the revolution of 1917. Nicholas and his family were executed in 1918.

Bought by a London dealer for £450 when cash-strapped communist authorities sold off some of Russia’s art treasures in the 1920s, the egg changed hands several times. It was believed lost for two decades until Christie’s auctioned it in 1994 for more than 7 million Swiss francs ($5.6 million at the time). It was sold again in 2002 for $9.6 million.

It is now expected to surpass the record $18.5 million paid at a Christie’s auction in 2007 for another Fabergé egg created for the Rothschild banking family.

There are 43 surviving Fabergé imperial eggs, most in museums.