Fabergé, the world’s most iconic artist jeweler, launched a creative charity initiative which took place in New York from 1st to 26th April 2014 in collaboration with leading artists and designers, to raise funds for Elephant Family, founded by Mark Shand and Studio in a School, founded by Agnes Gund.

The initiative set up 300 giant egg sculptures, each designed by globally renowned artists, designers, architects and brands including: Two One Two Design, Tracey Emin, Mark Quinn, Zaha Hadid, Ronnie Wood, Peter Beard, Diane Von Furstenberg, Marchesa, Olivier Theyskens, and Bruce Weber, placed throughout the five boroughs of New York City during the Easter period.

New Yorkers and visitors participated in The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt to find all of the giant eggs, with the help of a magical fairy tale. Participants who enter the hunt had the opportunity to win one of three Fabergé prizes, with a combined retail price exceeding USD 125,000. The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt culminated in a grand auction held by Sotheby’s where the giant egg sculptures were sold. All proceeds went to two charities- Elephant Family and Studio in a School.

As a passionate advocate of the arts and creative talent, Fabergé views The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt as a perfect medium with which to celebrate artistry and creativity, whilst supporting two deserving charities – raising much needed funds towards arts education for children in New York as well as for some of the world’s most endangered animals. The New York-based initiative follows the success of The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt in London in 2012, which set two Guinness World Records and ultimately raised over $1.5 million for charity.

Two One Two Design’s entry was inspired and modeled directly from a pre-film animation device called the Zoetrope. It produces the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. The name Zoetrope is composed from two Greek words zoe “life” & trope “turning”. The outer black shell is polished to so reflect the New York City environment while the interior of the shell depicts a series of “jumping over Easter eggs” elephants. The imagery is playful, but the idea of the charity for elephants combined with turning of life, is a powerful when all is in motion. As the crank on the exterior rotates, it in return cranks all the mechanical gears and electric generator that feeds the LED light that internally lights the scene. Our egg was not only selected to be sold at Sotheby’s but was also the only egg to engage the visitor interactively.