Right in time for Easter, Rolls-Royce has shared hitherto unreleased images of the Spirit of Ecstasy Fabergé Egg, a contemporary work of art created for a collector of Rolls-Royce and Fabergé.
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Fabergé and Rolls-Royce joined forces to produce a contemporary Imperial Egg on behalf of an undisclosed patron of both the luxury houses. Only the second object to be commissioned in the Imperial Class – a category reserved for Fabergé’s most illustrious creations – since the fall of the Romanovs in 1917, the Spirit of Ecstasy Fabergé Egg reflects the extraordinary attention to detail and craftsmanship for which both brands are renowned.
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Conceived by Rolls-Royce and brought to life by Fabergé, the egg stands at 160mm high and weighs 400g, embodying the ‘surprise and delight’ attributes of the original Imperial Eggs. The Egg rests on an engine-turned, hand-engraved, purple enamel guilloché base of 18-carat white gold.
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Arms of rose gold define the shape of the egg, acting as a protective chamber for its precious contents. Operating a discreet lever at the base of the stand opens the shell to reveal a Spirit of Ecstasy figurine hand-sculpted in frosted rock crystal.
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The rose gold vanes, embellished with nearly 10 carats of round white diamonds, resolve into swathes of natural amethyst weighing over 390 carats, specially selected for its colour saturation and quality. The operating mechanism, thought to be the most complicated ever created for a Fabergé Egg, is a result of the latest computer-aided design and micro-engineering technology with the traditional goldsmiths’ art.
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The ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ Fabergé Egg was premiered at the House of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, England, to a party of distinguished guests and patrons in October 2018, before going on public display in the window of Fabergé’s premises in London’s Mayfair.
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The history of Fabergé Eggs is closely linked with Easter. In 1885, Emperor Alexander III of Russia wanted to give his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, a truly memorable Easter gift. The Emperor commissioned the celebrated Saint Petersburg jeweller House of Fabergé to create a spectacular jewelled egg.
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The firm obliged with an egg crafted from gold, with an opaque white enamelled shell that opened to reveal a yellow-gold yolk. This contained a golden hen, which in turn concealed a tiny diamond replica of the Imperial crown, from which a small ruby pendant was suspended.
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The Emperor was so delighted that giving Fabergé eggs became an Easter tradition for Russia’s ruling dynasty. Many of these remarkable Imperial Eggs were lost following the Revolution of 1917. The survivors are now among the most coveted and valuable objets d’art ever created. In 2014, the Third Imperial Fabergé Egg, dating from 1887, was sold at auction in London for $33 million.
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