Lost Fabergé Easter Egg worth £20m and almost melted for scrap to go on display in London

 
Alexandra Rucki8 April 2014

A Fabergé Easter Egg made for Emperor Alexander III of Russia is going on display after it was nearly melted for scrap.

The lost Third Imperial Easter Egg will go on show in Wartski’s antiques showroom, Grafton Street, this month after an internet search revealed it was a rare collector’s item.

Saved: a Wartski staff member poses with the missing Imperial Faberge Egg (Pictures: EPA)

It was created as a gift by Peter Carl Fabergé for Empress Maria Feodorovna in Easter 1887, but was seized by the Bolsheviks during the 1917 Russian Revolution and mysteriously made its way to the United States.

An anonymous man purchased the 8.2cm tall gold egg, which is studded with diamonds as well as sapphires, for £8,000 ($14,000) with the intention to sell it for scrap.

He struggled to find a buyer and an internet search led him to discover it was the lost East egg of Empress Maria Feodorovna.

Wartski, who specialise in the work of Fabergé, purchased it for an unidentified collector for £20 million and will display it for a short period.

Kieran McCarthy, director of Wartski, said: “For the art historical community and for the Fabergé world, I think we had to say that it was found. It's like finding a missing Rembrandt and you didn't tell anybody.

Fabergé Egg: the 8.2cm tall gold egg is studded with diamonds and sapphires (Picture: Reuters)

“It may disappear again and may not be seen for, who knows - I would not be surprised if it didn't come out for another 112 years.”

The egg contains a surprise akin to all of Fabergé’s eggs - a lady's watch by Vacheron Constantin with a white enamel face and diamond-set gold hands. The watch has been taken from its case and mounted in the egg so it can be displayed upright.

Fabergé eggs are considered masterpieces and can only be purchased by the very rich, with wealthy Russians enthusiastically collecting the treasures.

A Russian businessman with a passion for Tsarist treasures, Alexander Ivanov, said he was behind the $18.5 million purchase of a Fabergé egg in London.

The Lost Third Imperial Easter Egg can be seen from April 14-17.

For more information visit wartski.com

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