Lalanne Hippo Bar Sells for Record-Breaking $31.4 Million at Sotheby’s
The sale marks both the highest price ever achieved for the artist and for a work of design at auction
On Wednesday evening, François-Xavier Lalanne’s Hippopotame Bar, pièce unique smashed pre-sale estimates and established new record highs for the artist and design pieces sold at auction when it sold for a final price of $31.4 million. The bar, commissioned by Anne Schlumberger in 1976, sparked a 26-minute bidding battle between seen bidders before the final hammer.
The piece, which is the first and only Hippopotame Bar executed in copper, was offered as part of the “Important Design, Featuring Works from the Schlumberger Collection,” which was included in the “Surrealism and Its Legacy” sale. Other highlights from the collection include a Salvador Dalí masterpiece commissioned by São Schlumberger, which sold for $857,000 at the end of October.
The bar itself features concealed compartments that reveal a bottle rack, ice bucket, hors d’oeuvre tray, and glassware storage. It served as a prototype for later editions and reflects Lalanne’s growth as an artist.