Faberge egg sells for $16.5M

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A Faberge egg dating from 1902 has sold for £8 million ($16.5 million) at an auction house in London.

The egg went on sale Wednesday at Christie's to a packed auction house with bidding starting at £4.8 million ($9.9 million).

The buyer of the egg was not immediately known.

The diamond, gold and enamel work of art was dated and signed by the master craftsman Karl Faberge.

It was commissioned by the Rothschild banking family who have had the egg since 1905.

The design features a mechanical cockerel with diamond studded wings that rises out of the top of the egg.

Considered one of the great beauties of the art world, the eggs were commissioned from Faberge by the Russian Tsars.

Faberge and his goldsmiths designed and constructed the first egg in 1885 for Tsar Alexander III.

The Russian royals liked his work so much that they asked him to produce one egg each year to be given to the Tsar's family as Easter presents.

A total of 68 eggs were made throughout the 1800s and early 20th century - 54 for the Russian royal family and the rest for private collectors. E-mail to a friend