DESIGN
DESIGN
Eileen Gray's Dragon Armchair
The sale of the Yves Saint Laurent/Pierre Berge collection by Christie’s at the Grand Palais in Paris in February 2009 broke many records. Not least of these was set by a leather armchair by Irish designer Eileen Gray (1878-1976). It made a record 21.9 million euros. The Dragon armchair, designed by Eileen Gray around 1917-1919, thus became the most expensive work of 20th-century design ever sold at auction. The buyer was Cheska Vallois, the dealer who sold it to the French designer in the early 1970’s. There is a permanent exhibition devoted to Eileen Gray in the National Museum of Ireland’s Decorative Arts and History Section at Collin’s Barracks, Benburb St., Dublin. The museum contains a significant collection of decorative arts.