U.S. collector to take Faberges to Russia

MOSCOW, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- A New Mexico collector of Faberge eggs and artifacts connected to the Romanovs announced Tuesday he is bringing his collection home to Russia.

"We are actively preparing for the show of 1,000 exhibits which will be put on display at Moscow's Manezh and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg," Freddy Novelo of Mexico City told Itar-Tass.

The exhibit will include the "Blue Winter" Faberge egg that Czar Nicholas II gave to his mother Maria Fedorovna in 1912.

The collection also includes a gold frame that belonged to Czarina Anastasia and rare original state documents signed by the last Russian monarch.

The exhibit is being financed by the Fine Arts and Design Fund Novelo set up in Miami with U.S. art historian Christopher Clark. Money raised by the exhibits in Russia will go to charities in that country, Itar-Tass said.