Jimmy Johnstone Egg
JIMMY JOHNSTONE, CELTIC’S GREATEST EVER PLAYER, HONOURED BY ST PETERSBURG COLLECTION
St Petersburg Collection was invited to the House of Commons on 7th June 2005 where nearly 100 Members of Parliament attended with the Press. The following evening, to a black-tie Dinner at the Glasgow Hilton surrounded by football stars including nearly all the Lisbon Lions and some 400 other guests, for the launch of the JIMMY JOHNSTONE EGG. Celtic Football Club’s greatest ever player, now suffering from motor neurone disease, was the focus of Sarah’s creation.
This incredible Egg which was an Edition of only 19 pieces, sold out within days of the press coverage. The last of the edition was saved for the Glasgow launch dinner and was auctioned by the Chairman of St Petersburg Collection Philip Birkenstein. There was such interest in this last available Egg that the Egg sold for £47,000 (US$87,000).
For those who were unable to see the pictures in the press, the JIMMY JOHNSTONE EGG features the Lisbon Lion as its finial, commemorating the European Cup won by Celtic in Lisbon in 1967. In gold, silver, enamel and black-gold, the Egg bears each of Celtic’s winner’s medals – the European Cup, the Scottish League Championship, the Scottish Football Association Cup and the Scottish Football League Cup. The medals intersperse a reminder of Jimmy Johnstone’s family origins with the coal pit-head – four winding-shaft supports, fashioned in silver and black gold. The top of the Egg itself is hand engine-turned on sterling silver and precious rhodium. The lower half of the creation is adorned with Celtic Football Club’s 1888 badge, counterbalanced by the motif from ‘The Lord of the Wing’ motion picture, which celebrates Jimmy Johnstone’s career and achievement. To the sides, seven magic celtic rings - the number 7 being the number of Jimmy’s shirt, also in hand-enamelled silver. The bezel is an echo of the ‘Jungle’, whose corrugated roof it commemorates.
Open the Egg and view the surprise. On a field of gold and hallmarked silver, Jimmy Johnstone himself, poised aslant as he presses forward: Celtic’s legendary player, triumphantly modelled in silver and fine gold, at his feet a sterling and black gold diamond-studded football. Jimmy’s signature authenticates the creation.
The JIMMY JOHNSTONE EGG was created in a Limited Edition of only 19 – one for each of the major medal won by Jimmy Johnstone. The Edition is sold out.