Auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's ended a record week for Russian art sales in London Friday, boosted by exiled members of the former Soviet Union who got rich on the back of the oil and gas boom.
Christie's said it sold 44.9 million pounds (63 million euros, 92 million dollars) of art from decorative pieces to books and icons -- a record for one week of Russian sales.
In the whole of last year, it sold 28 million pounds.
Sotheby's for its part beat its record of 22 million pounds in November last year, selling 38.6 million pounds this week.
The Rothschild Faberge egg was the highlight of the week at Christies, selling for a record 8.9 million pounds to a Russian collector.
In a patriotic gesture, the anonymous buyer said he would return the egg to Russia and put it on display at the country's national museum.
Sotheby's sold "Bluebells", by the Russian painter Natalia Goncharova for three million pounds, as well as four other lots that broke the one million pound barrier.
"This week's series of sales demonstrate beyond any doubt that the demand for Russian art continues to gather momentum and that the Russian art market is evolving rapidly," said Sotheby's head of Russian art, Jo Vickery.
Some 90 percent of buyers came from Russia, she added.
At Christie's, all of painter Konstantin Somov's works on sale were snapped up, for a total of 6.3 million pounds -- three times the pre-sale estimate.
MacDougall's auction house, which specialises in Russian art sales, meanwhile sold 11 million pounds' worth this week.
Founder William MacDougall said: "The market has not peaked yet. The Russian economy shows a very healthy growth and the oil prices continue to rise."