UNITED KINGDOM: Previously unrecorded Faberge egg containing clock to go on sale

A previously unrecorded egg by Russian jeweller Peter Carl Faberge containing a clock and animated cockerel goes on sale in November with a record price tag of up to nine million pounds (18.26 million US dollars). The translucent pink egg has never been seen in public before and was not publicly documented when it was made in 1902 for the Rothschild family. On Thursday (October 4) it was presented to the media at Christie's auctionhouse in London. Faberge eggs have become a byword for opulence and luxury ever since the young jeweller was commissioned in 1885 by Tsar Alexander III of Russia to make one as a gift for his wife Maria. The intricate pieces rarely come on the open market. "There have been two or three in the last 10 to 15 years at auction. But to find one that has never been seen in public is absolutely extraordinary," said Anthony Philips, a director of auction house Christie's. "There are only two other known Faberge eggs that have a clock in them and also an automaton. When the clock strikes the cock come up, shakes its wings and sings," he added. The record for a Russian work of art of 6.6 million pounds was set by the Faberge Winter Egg at Christie's New York in April 2002. That egg was of Russian Imperial Family standard and therefore commanded a premium. Most eggs were made for the Tsar and his family, but a few were commissioned by wealthy collectors. Christie's is confident the Rothschild Faberge Egg is of the same standard as the Imperial eggs and, because it bears the Rothschild provenance, may well attract similar levels of interest when it goes on sale in London on November 28. "The market is incredibly strong. There has been an explosion of Russian interest," said Philips, adding that he expected bidding interest from across the world. Tsar Alexander asked Faberge to make one egg a year until his son, the next Tsar Nicholas II, ordered him to make two a year -- one for his wife and one for his mother. The tradition ended in 1917 when Nicholas was forced to abdicate and he and his entire family were executed by the Bolsheviks. By then 50 such Imperial Easter eggs had been made, although not all have survived. A maximum of 12 Imperial standard eggs are known to have been made for private clients. The Rothschild Faberge Egg, signed K. Faberge and dated 1902, was a gift from Beatrice Ephrussi -- a scion of the house of Rothschild -- to Germaine Halphen when she got engaged to Beatrice's younger brother Baron Edouard de Rothschild.

ITN Source | October 8, 2007

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