Most Expensive Egg Ever Sold: 1913 Rothschild Fabergé Egg at $18.5M

In November 2007, Christie's London sold the Rothschild Fabergé Egg for $18.5 million, setting the auction record for any Fabergé piece and, by extension, for the most expensive decorative egg ever sold. The object in question is a small mechanical timepiece in the form of an egg, crafted in 1902 by the House of Fabergé for Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, a member of the French branch of the Rothschild banking family. At the top of the egg sits a cockerel automaton that rises, flaps its wings, and opens its beak to crow at each hour. The mechanism requires winding and is still functional. The piece is approximately 11 centimeters tall. ## The House of Fabergé and the Imperial Egg Tradition Peter Carl Fabergé inherited his father's Saint Petersburg jewelry firm in 1872 and transformed it into one of the most technically sophisticated luxury workshops in European history. The firm's association with eggs began in 1885, when Tsar Alexander III commissioned an Easter gift for his wife, Maria Feodorovna. The resulting object, a white enamel egg opening to reveal a golden yolk containing a miniature hen, established the format that Fabergé would refine over the next three decades. Between 1885 and 1917, Fabergé produced 50 imperial Easter eggs for the Russian royal family, of which 43 survive. These are the benchmark objects in the category. However, the firm also accepted private commissions from wealthy clients outside the imperial court, producing a smaller series of what are classified as non-imperial eggs. The Rothschild egg falls into this category. Its auction price in 2007 exceeded that of most imperial eggs sold at auction, largely due to the exceptional quality of its automaton mechanism and its unbroken provenance from the Rothschild family. ## Provenance, Rarity, and the Fabergé Market Fabergé objects command prices determined by three primary factors: rarity of the specific piece, quality of the automaton or mechanical element, and clarity of provenance. The Rothschild egg scores at the top of all three. It had remained in the Rothschild family since its creation, passing through several generations before the 2007 sale. This unbroken ownership chain is unusual. Many Fabergé pieces were dispersed, sold, looted, or lost during and after the Russian Revolution of 1917, making documented ownership histories both rare and valuable. The buyer at the 2007 Christie's sale was not publicly identified. Russian oligarchs and sovereign wealth funds have been active buyers in this market, and several high-profile Fabergé pieces purchased after 2000 are believed to be held in private Russian collections. The Fabergé egg market operates largely outside public view, with major transactions occurring through private treaty sales rather than public auction. The 2007 Christie's result remains the most visible and verified data point for pricing at the top of this category.