Badminton Cabinet— $36 million
An item like this really ties the room together — with money. When the 18th century Florentine ebony chest inlaid with amethyst quartz, agate, lapis lazuli and other stones was sold for $36 million at a 2004 Christie’s auction, it broke its own record as the most expensive piece of furniture sold at an auction. The Badminton Cabinet, so named because it remained in Badminton, England, for over two centuries, had set the previous record in 1990 when Christie’s sold it to billionaire Barbara Piasecka Johnson (of the Johnson & Johnson fortune) for $16.59 million. Johnson put it up for sale in 2004, when it was bought by Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein who then donated it to the Liechtenstein Museum in Austria. This costliest piece of furniture in the world took 30 experts and 60 years to make and it was eventually named after the Duke’s country seat, Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England.
Ruijssenaars Magnetic Floating Bed — $1.6 million Yes, this is a bed that seemingly floats in the air. The architect Janjaap Ruijssenaar collaborated with Bakker Magnetics and they took six years to develop the technology needed to pull off the design of the floating bed. Making use of permanent and opposing magnets of industrial strength, the bed is allowed to float 40 centimetres above the floor, while holding up to 900 kilograms of weight. The result is a visually appealing furniture for the bedroom.
Archeo Copper Bathtub — $67,557 Made of solid copper, this tub is hand-crafted by the very people who refurbished Lady Liberty’s torch. Over five feet long and two-and-a-half feet wide, the tub is spacious enough to comfortably accommodate just about anyone. The fluted faucet and hand-held shower unit are designed with the same aesthetic quality as the rest of the tub, featuring a finely engraved starfish-on-seashell knob. The extravagantly made tub easily takes its place as the world’s most expensive bathtub with its $67,557 price tag.
Dragon’s Chair— $30 Million Next, we have the most expensive chair in the world! Priced at almost $30 million ‘The Dragon Chair’ is surely an exquisite piece of furniture and it is obviously no ordinary chair. Created back in 1917 by the Irish designer named Eileen Gray, it was acquired by the founder of the fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent, in 2009-10. Earlier, the armchair was only expected to reach around £3 million but despite the global recession, frenzied bidding between the world’s richest furniture collectors pushed the price to more than six times the estimate. The chair, just 24 inches high, 61 cm was created between 1917 and 1919 by Miss Gray, who moved to London in 1898 to study at the Slade School of Fine Art. In the form of unfurling petals, upholstered in brown leather, the chair’s frame is made with sculpted wood, lacquered in brownish orange and silver and modelled as the serpentine, intertwined bodies of two dragons, their eyes in black lacquer on a white ground, their bodies decorated in low relief with stylised clouds. According to legend, the dragon has a history in Chinese iconography as a symbol of strength and goodness, with the power to protect and guard.
Plume Blanche Diamond Encrusted Sofa— $184,000 These sofas are custom-built and therefore exclusive luxury furniture, too. Only with limited 50 copies, the highlights of the sofa include solid mahogany built, upholstered with leather, a glossy lacquer finish and of course diamond studded exterior. The sofa is even shaped like a diamond.
The Tufft Table— $4.6 million Would you ever pay $4.6 million for the most expensive table in the world Named after its creator, the elegant piece of furniture was designed for a rich owner residing in New Jersey. Carved by Thomas Tufft around 1775-1776, the Tufft Table has remained a relevant example of rococo furniture ever since. The expensive piece of furniture was sold at a Christie’s auction house to an architect based in Philadelphia named Samuel Harrison Gardiner. The antique table features pierced fretwork and long legs ending in narrow ankles and detailed ball-and-claw feet.