THE GIANT. A 22CT GOLD AND TRANSLUCENT ENAMEL CONUNDRUM EGG FOR CADBURY'S designed by Alex Styles

THE GIANT. A 22CT GOLD AND TRANSLUCENT ENAMEL CONUNDRUM EGG FOR CADBURY'S designed by Alex Styles, 8cm h, by Garrard & Co Ltd, London 1983, cased, 252gExhibited: Goldsmiths' Hall London, Alex Styles Retrospective Exhibition, 1988.The 1984 Treasure Hunt for which Cadbury's commissiond twelve 22ct gold and enamel eggs from Garrard & Co, each with a declared retail value of £10,000, was launched in January of that year to promote its Easter Egg range.The promotion saw sales of the Cadbury Creme Egg (cost 14p) increase to a near monopoly market share of 94% as eager treasure hunters pored over the accompanying book by Don Shaw (with illustrations by Nick Price) and attempt to solve the twelve riddles as to the whereabouts of the twelve buried caskets each of which contained a scroll that entitled the finder to one of the gold eggs.Conundrum was based on the 1979 book Masquerade, central to which author and illustrator Kit Williams buried a jewelled gold hare. There were unintended consequences of both competitions as gold fevered prospectors armed with trowels roamed private land and historic sites throughout Britain. One Conundrum casket was located in a cemetery on the Isle of Man. Cadbury's decided to call off the competition in the face of complaints, risking the ire of frustrated treasure hunters, with several eggs yet to be won. It is rumoured a number were eventually destroyed.One was offered at auction at Bonham's, 28 November 2012 and the 'secret' thirteenth and heavier egg (326.6g), intended as the prize for a Cadbury retailer, was sold Batemans, Lincolnshire, 1 July 2017 (£17,200 hammer price).