The Easel

18th November 2025

Gifted by Emperor Nicholas II to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna on Easter Day, 1913: the Winter Egg

Jonathan Bastable | Christie’s | 10th November 2025

Is the Winter Egg the greatest of all the eggs made by Fabergé for the Romanov family?  Who is to say, but it is often listed among the favourites. Carved from rock crystal and adorned with over 4000 diamonds, it is a technical tour de force. Its delicate, beautiful exterior hides a surprise – inside is a hanging basket filled with wood anemones. History gives this egg a poignancy – it was made in 1913, the year before war and revolution. It is going to auction next month.

The enduring appeal of Limoges

Camille Okhio | Elle Decor | 20th October 2025

Enamelling started in monasteries in the Middle Ages. Its heyday, though, was in the Renaissance when a technique was developed to paint translucent paste onto a metal surface before firing. This allowed for more precise, free-flowing images. Multiple layers created painterly images in gleaming (unfading) colours on small caskets, plates and rings. Of course, it was frightfully expensive and most work went to royalty, the church or the Rothschilds. A specialist gallery in Paris is the place to go if interested.

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