Eileen Grey chair fails to sell at New York auction

Despite $1.7million bid, chair fails to sell

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The chair known as the ‘Sirène’ failed to sell at auction

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A chair designed by the Irish designer Eileen Grey failed to sell last night, at a Christie’s auction in New York, despite a bid of $1.7 million.

The chair known as the ‘Sirène’ was handcrafted in Paris 90 years ago by the Wexford born architect and furniture designer.

It had a pre-sale estimate of $2million-$3million and was put up for auction by an American private collector.

The bidding at last night’s auction opened by $1.2million and quickly rose in increments of $100,000 before it reached the highest bid of $1.7 million at which point the auctioneer withdrew.

Last year another chair by the designer called the 'Fauteil aux Dragons' (the Dragons’ Chair) sold for €21.9 million in Paris, which set a world record for 20th-century furniture.

Born into a Scottish-Irish family in 1878 close to Enniscorthy in Co. Wexford, Grey moved to Paris later in life and continued to live between her home there and London for the duration of her life. She is widely considered one of the most influential Art Deco designers of her era. She died in Paris in 1976, aged 98.
 

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