Art Deco sets new records at Saint Laurent sale

An Art Deco armchair by Irish designer Eileen Gray smashed records and topped sales on day two of the sale of the stunning Yves Saint Laurent art collection, becoming the most expensive 20th century piece of furniture ever.

The €21.9 million bid for the one-off rounded brown leather piece - known as the Dragons armchair because the arms feature sculptured dragon's heads - set a record for the iconic designer as well as being the second highest price ever paid for furniture.

The highest ever was an 18th century "Badmington cabinet" sold for €36.6 million (€27.46 million) in December 2004.

Another high-flying Art Deco piece by Ms Gray, who died in 1976, was a chest that sold for €4 million, including fees.

Among other Art Deco records from the gems that graced the homes of Mr Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé was a set of 15 leaf-decorated mirrors by French designer Claude Lalanne that flew away at €1.8 million.

And a pair of palmwood leopard-skinned benches designed by Gustav Miklos set a record for the Hungarian at €1.5 million.

Two vases by Dunand too sold far higher than expected. A 1912 vase went for €220,000 against an estimated value of €80,000 and another sold for €270,000 in comparison with an estimate of €30,000.

Earlier yesterday, a 19th century oil by Theodore Géricault sold for a record €9 million while two works by Ingres also set new records at the art "sale of the century".

An oil by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres fetched €2 million including fees while one of his drawings hit a record €913,000 for a sketch on paper.

Before the Art Deco treasures went on sale, Christie's said works by old masters and 19th century artists, as well as silver antiques, fetched €42.1 million on day two of the historic auction.

The auction of 700 works collected by Mr Saint Laurent and Mr Bergé at its opening round on Monday smashed the world record for a private art sale with €206 million worth of bids.

On the first day alone, the three-day auction dubbed the "sale of the century" broke seven world records for contemporary artists.