Lalanne’s ‘Hippopotame Bar’ Sells for $31.4 M., Shattering Design Auction Record

François-Xavier Lalanne’s Hippopotame Bar sold today for a staggering $31.4 million at Sotheby’s in New York, shattering every precedent in the market for design and setting a new auction record for the artist by a wide margin. Estimated at $7 million–$10 million, the hand-wrought copper bar more than tripled its high estimate after a 26-minute bidding contest among seven bidders.Not only does the result confirm Lalanne’s commercial star power, it also re