NEW YORK (AP) — A Russian Imperial Easter egg produced by the jeweler Carl Faberge was auctioned Friday for nearly $9.6 million.
The Winter Egg was acquired by an anonymous telephone bidder, Christie's auction house said.
Embellished with more than 3,000 diamonds and rose-cut diamonds, the egg was given by Czar Nicholas II to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, on Easter 1913. It contains a basket of spring flowers symbolizing the rebirth and seasonal change associated with Easter.
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Faberge created 50 eggs for the Russian royal family between 1885 and 1916. The whereabouts of only 44 of the Imperial eggs is known, Christie's said.