The family of late publisher Malcolm Forbes said today it would sell the world's largest private collection of fabled Faberge Imperial Easter Eggs and other Faberge creations for an estimated $90 million.
The eggs, considered a standard for rare treasures, were first commissioned by Russian Tsar Alexander III from the House of Faberge master crafters in 1885 as Easter gifts for his wife, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. The tradition continued for 30 years in the Romanov imperial family.
There are 50 Imperial Easter Eggs in the world, including the nine owned by the Forbes family. Sotheby's auction house said the nine eggs and 180 other Faberge pieces from the collection would be offered at auction in New York on April 20th and 21st. A presale public exhibition opens on April 12th at Sotheby's.
There are 10 in the Moscow Kremlin Collection, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the United States has five and Britain's Queen Elizabeth owns three. The others are in the United States, Switzerland and Monaco, but eight are unaccounted for, Sotheby's said.
Mr Forbes, publisher of Forbes Magazine, collected the Imperial eggs and other objects made by the House of Faberge. They have been displayed at Forbes Galleries and shows worldwide since his death 14 years ago.
The family said in a statement that Mr Forbes had left it to his children to decide whether or not to sell one of the collections, but he hoped that it would be auctioned for others to enjoy.
The last Faberge Imperial egg to go on auction was sold for $9.57 million at Christie's in April 2002, a Sotheby's spokesman said.
The highlight of April's auction will be the Coronation Egg, considered one of the most valuable objects made by Faberge. It was commissioned by Nicholas II after he was crowned in Moscow to present to his Tsarina on Easter in 1897.