An armchair, which was previously expected to sell for around £3 million at Christie’s in Paris, has been auctioned off for a whopping £19.4 million (nearly $28 million). This sale has made this brown leather armchair the most expensive piece of 20th-century design ever auctioned. Once owned by Yves Saint Laurent, this iconic chair, called the Fauteuil aux Dragons armchair, was made by French designer Eileen Gray around 1917 to 1919. The armchair is upholstered in brown leather and touts a sculpted wood frame and brownish orange and silver lacquer finish. The chair was first owned by Suzanne Talbot, who was Gray’s first and most important patron. Philippe Garner, Christie’s international head of 20th Century Decorative Art and Design, said...

The extraordinary price shows that collectors still have a fierce appetite when presented with an opportunity to buy something unique and of the very best quality.

The statement above is so true considering the financial meltdown situation. The bidding between the furniture collectors pushed the price of the Dragon armchair to more than six times the estimated value.

Via: Luxist/Telegraph422588