Most expensive set of chairs sold at auction
Who
Unknown
What
1700000 UK pound(s) sterling
Where
United Kingdom (London)
When
A pair of chairs designed by Robert Adam and built by Thomas Chippendale were sold at Christies in London, UK for £1.7 million ($2,849,710) to an anonymous buyer on 3 July 1997. Commissioned in the 1760's as a suite of eight armchairs and four sofas by wealthy merchant Sir Lawrence Dundas, they represent the only known collaboration between two of the 18th century's greatest craftsmen. 

When first sold, the chairs, enriched with motifs such as pairs of sphinxes, winged beasts and formal acanthus scrolls, cost £20 - equivalent to £1,274.20 ($1,907.35) today.