With the famous Fabergé Winter Egg going under the hammer at Christie’s in London, young, independent art historian Angie Afifi reflects on the never-ending endure of the firm’s striking and much treasured objets d’art and reaffirms their relevance today explaining their current popularity around the world.
Text by Angie Afifi
The story of Fabergé has been often distilled into a single crystalline and quintessential symbol of genius: the Winter Egg of 1913. It was a triumph of both imagination as well as technical daring, qualities that lie at the heart of Fabergé’s success. Conceived as an Easter gift from Emperor Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the piece has twice broken the world auction record for a work by Fabergé and now reappears at the upcoming Christie’s sale with high expectations as the hero piece in the Important Works by Fabergé from a Princely Collection.
The return of the Winter Egg to the auction block in London both reminds us once again of the egg’s legendary status and affirms the continued vitality and relevance of the market for Imperial Russian works of art. The Winter Egg, with its rock crystal carved as thin as glass and studded with platinum and diamonds to resemble frost, remains a testament to the spellbinding audacity of Russian artistry. Carved from an exceptionally clear ovoid of rock crystal, its surface is engraved with frost patterns so weightless that they seem to have been breathed onto the crystal rather than cut into it. Snowflake motifs in platinum, each set with rose cut diamonds, shimmer like morning frost catching pale sunlight hinting at approaching Spring. Even the base, also carved from rock crystal, evokes thawing ice, introducing a counterpoint that transforms the egg into a miniature meditation on the profound shift of the season in Russia the promise of Spring after a long cold winter. And when opened, the egg reveals its celebrated surprise, a bouquet of spring flowers carved from delicate hardstones and set in a crystal basket edged with diamonds. It is a simple, yet poetic and christian marriage of winter’s glacial exterior and spring’s promise hiding within.
However, to truly understand the enduring obsession with Fabergé, you can also look beyond the famous Imperial Easter Eggs to the many other objects that lived and breathed in the daily rhythms of the Russian and European aristocracy, such as the table clocks and photograph frames that initially adorned the desks of St Petersburg’s elite before Fabergé’s fame spread abroad. It is within these functional and exquisite objects de vertu that the real breadth, productivity and industryof the firm is revealed, fueling then and now a global market that is currently experiencing a mini boom, among collectorsfrom New York to Qatar and back. The designer of the Winter Egg, possibly one of the most inventive of all the eggs,Alma Pihl, serves as a vital entry point into the narrative about the sheer originality of Fabergé’s creative output. As a female artisan in a male dominated industry, Pihl broke away from the heavy Neoclassical and Rococo styles that defined the period. She looked with authentic, fresh eyes at frost on a windowpane and transformed it into a sophisticated and beautiful work of art. Her innovation is central to understanding Fabergé’s value today, for the firm can not be defined solely by material opulence, but by an intellectual and creative approach to aesthetics. Pihl’s legacy reminds us that Fabergé was a house of designers as much as goldsmiths.
This same spirit of distinctive, masterful design is evident in the pieces Vickery Art is currently offering for sale in an exclusive collection of Russian Works of Art and Fabergé from a private European collector. Among the many highlights is a rare salmon pink triple photograph frame. Crafted by head workmaster Mikhail Perchin, the frame is a triumph of the enameler’s art. Its fan shaped, demi lune silhouette is instantly recognisable and echoes the design language of similar examples preserved in the Royal Collection of H.R.H. King Charles III. The guilloché enamel is rendered in a deeply saturated, translucent salmon pink, a colour notoriously difficult to fire without scorching. Laid over a sunray ground, it produces a dynamic optical effect in which light seems to pulse upward through the enamel. The frame celebrates memory, elevated by green and rose gold mounts formed as ribbon tied laurel leaves. The presence of three oval apertures suggests a piece intended for a parent or spouse, an intimate object designed to hold the likenesses of loved ones.
While photograph frames capture memories, Fabergé clocks capture time, and the market for these timepieces has proven to be one of the most resilient and active sectors in the field. The mechanical complexity combined with the artistic casing makes them dual-natured treasures. A prime example of this is the two-colored gold and enamel desk clock by workmaster Victor Aarne. Also taking a demi-lune form, this piece utilizes a translucent mauve enamel over an undulating sunburst ground. The choice of mauve, a favorite color of the French Ancien Régime and the Romanov court, evokes a sense of regal nostalgia. Aarne’s work is characterized by a specific crispness in the gold chasing, seen here in the reeds and ribbon-tied staffs that border the dial. The way the gold flourishes interact with the purple enamel creates a contrast of warmth and coolness that is visually arresting.
The diversity of Fabergé’s design language is further illustrated by the triangular silver and enamel desk clock, another work by Mikhail Perchin. Departing from the soft curves of the demi-lune, this piece embraces a sharp, architectural geometry. The pale blue guilloché enamel serves as a backdrop for applied Neoclassical motifs, including anthemia and floral designs reminiscent of Greek and Roman architecture. This clock represents the "Intellectual Fabergé", restrained, elegant, and historically aware, and speaks to the collector who values scholarly craftsmanship and the refined adaptation of classical vocabulary into modern luxury. The triangular shape is popular among collectors.
Completing this study of time is a rectangular silver-mounted clock by Henrik Wigström. This piece signals a shift toward a more pared back, modern aesthetic, with alternating narrow and wide vertical bands in mauve enamel that create a rhythm almost contemporary in its clarity. What makes the clock particularly compelling from a market-historical perspective is its use of 91 zolotniki silver. This higher standard of purity (94.79 percent) indicates that the object was likely produced specifically for the London market to meet British sterling expectations. This detail underscores Fabergé’s early self-conception as an international brand, a global orientation that has expanded exponentially today as demand for Fabergé clocks and frames continues to surge in emerging markets across Asia and the Middle East.
Why is this market booming now? In periods of economic and political instability and uncertainty such as ours, tangible assets with established provenance and a longsstanding market tend to perform as safe havens. Yet unlike gold bars or raw diamonds, as an alternative asset, a Fabergé clock offers a “triple value”: intrinsic material worth, artistic scarcity and it is something that you can display in your home and enjoy. It has international appeal, the Fabergé brand is known all over the world. Collectors in the Middle East appreciate the intricate geometrial designs of guilloché enamelling, which resonates with the region’s own longstanding traditions of mathematical ornament. At the same time, American collectors continue to drive prices upward for works with Imperial associations, touched by the Romance and drama of the finale to the Romanov rule. Diaspora Russians living across the world are buying into their own pre-revolutionary heritage; European collectors have a natural connection with Fabergé’s aesthetics. And Asian collectors have a natural love of objects with cultural and historical associations, not to mention the obvious similarities between Fabergé’s hard stone animals and netsuke figures.
However, it is provenance that perhaps remains the single most powerful multiplier in the valuation of the Russian decorative arts. While the market for traditional Fabergé objects is consistently strong, a confirmed link to the Romanovs transforms this interest into greater desire. Objects once owned by members of the Imperial family are approached not simply as antiques but as relics of a world that vanished abruptly and violently. This historical charge adds a dimension of value, the tragedy of the Romanovs, juxtaposed with the splendour of their court, forms an emotional catalyst: to acquire a Wigström clock or a Perchin frame with Imperial provenance is to secure, however briefly, a fragment of the soul of the Winter Palace.
Furthermore, the golden age of Fabergé scholarship over the past three decades has also helped fuel this fire. As more archives are digitized and more exhibitions are mounted, the appreciation for specific workmasters, such as Aarne, Perchin, and Wigström, has deepened and broadened with collectors seeking out the distinctive characteristics of these artisans. This sophistication in the buyer pool has created a robust, competitive market, enhancing the appeal of these objects. This allure ultimately lies in their exceptional condition, unique forms, and, of course, in their ability to transcend their function. Even as new generations of collectors enter the arena, the appetite for these masterpieces shows no sign of satiation.
Although the iconic Winter Egg at Christie’s has deservedly grabbed the headlines, it is the clocks, frames, cigarette casesand lighters, all the daily companions of the Tsars and their circle that sustain the market at large. They remain, as they were over a century ago, the powerful symbols of taste, history, and enduring luxury.
