Ever-Coveted Fabergé Takes Center Stage in Sotheby’s A La Veille Russie Vault Auction
More than 300 objets d’art will be on offer, including three rare flower sculptures and a pink guilloché enamel miniature sedan chair
More than 300 objets d’art will come up for sale at “From the Vaults of A La Vieille Russie” at Sotheby’s New York on December 16, and Fabergé is the name to watch. The Fabergé lots include three rare flower sculptures as well as a stunning beaker and an enticingly modern loving cup. But the star piece is a fairy-tale pink guilloché enamel Fabergé miniature sedan chair previously owned by Leopold Rothschild. Its mother-of-pearl interiors, rock crystal windows etched to give the appearance of sheer curtains, and operational hinges give evidence of a bygone era of craft deserving of the romance that surrounds it.
Fabergé made the legendary bejeweled Easter eggs that the Romanov family gave each other to honor the holiday, and the name only continued to gather steam after the Soviets essentially destroyed the business. The current record for Fabergé at auction is $30.2 million for the 1913 Imperial Winter Egg, achieved at Christie’s London in December 2025. A La Vieille Russie was instrumental in keeping the name and love for Russian Imperial treasures alive in the West, especially in New York.
Beyond Fabergé, the Siberian Mouse is especially delightful. The Swiss-made petite gold, enamel, and pearl automaton is still in working order and can dart and twirl. There is also an 18th-century gold and enamel box from Parisian Joyallier Bijoutier Jean Formey, a jeweled golden icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir with provenance linked to the collections of the Counts Tolstoy, and an 1866 silver-gilt samovar bearing the cypher of Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, later Emperor Alexander III.
Sotheby’s Head of Decorative Arts Worldwide, and Head of Fabergé and Russian Works of Art reflected on A La Vieille Russie’s central role in building an international appetite for both Fabergé and Russian decorative arts in general, saying, “Whether through seminal loans, landmark sales, or its special relationships with private collectors and curators, A La Vieille Russie has been central to the globalization of Russian treasures, and to the way we think about them today. It is a privilege to present a collection of such lasting significance, and a truly unprecedented opportunity to acquire works of this caliber from one of the most esteemed galleries in the world.”