Seven giant egg-shaped masterpieces created by leading artists will pop up in Chelsea, London from 16 May to 12 June 2022 to honour and celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Clarence Court Eggs, The Elephant Family and Cadogan have joined forces with seven well-known artists to produce the giant eggs, which will be displayed in a trail on and around Sloane Square in London’s Chelsea before being auctioned to support conservation work.

The Eggs of an Era exhibition will feature exquisite designs from each artist, with each design representing a different decade of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee as Her Majesty becomes the first British Monarch to celebrate 70 years of service.

The artist’s designs are all one-off, unique and use different mediums. The artists include Emily Powell, Rebecca Campbell, Sasha Compton, Simon Emery, Patricia Mitchell, Özlem Thompson and Tatiana Alida.

The Elephant Family have a history of using big art exhibitions to raise awareness for conservation, including the CoExistence campaign in 2021.

This latest exhibition aims raise to awareness of conservation by highlighting the impacts of poaching and collectability. While it is illegal in many countries to take certain wild birds’ eggs, the practice continues and can have serious implications for their conservation.

Removing eggs from nests, blowing them to remove the contents and presenting the eggs in a collection can be extremely damaging for some rarer species. Research suggests that marking eggs in a non-damaging way may reduce the desirability of eggs because collectors are interested in eggs for their aesthetic appeal.

Elephant Family Chief Executive Richard Hawkes said: “This public art exhibition is an exciting and unique way to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and raise awareness of conservation at the same time.

“Art, public spaces and causes have always had a strong connection and The Elephant Family has a long history of staging events like this – most recently the 2021 Coexistence campaign, which saw 100 life-sized lantana-carved elephants roam London and raised over £3m to support conservation. We hope thousands of visitors will enjoy the challenge of spotting the unique sculptures and taking the opportunity to learn more about conservation.”

Adrian Gott, CEO of Clarence Court eggs said, “The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year is of enormous significance to the British public and it’s a great honour for us all at Clarence Court to not only continue supporting The Elephant Family, and their fantastic conservation work, but to collaborate with them in celebrating this great occasion. Each of the superb giant egg designs represents a decade of HM The Queen’s reign and I very much look forward to seeing the seven eggs in situ around Chelsea in all their finery for the public to enjoy.”

The eggs, all collectable pieces of art, will be auctioned off next year. People wanting to register their interest can visit www.elephant-family.org to register interest in advance of the auction. The proceeds will be used to support conservation work across South Asia.

The Eggs of an Era exhibition is a precursor to the Big Egg Hunt UK, a large scale and high-profile fundraising event that last took over London in 2012 with plans underway for a comeback in 2023. It was the world’s largest interactive egg hunt with 200 exquisitely designed fibreglass eggs by top artists, designers, jewellers and celebrities and raised millions for conservation.