A small brown leather armchair once owned by Yves Saint Laurent has reportedly sold for £19.4 million (nearly $28 million), making it the most expensive piece of 20th-century design to ever be auctioned.

The armchair, by Irish designer Eileen Gray was only expected to reach around £3 mllion at Christie’s in Paris. It was bought by specialist Paris art gallery Robert and Cheska Vallois.

The unique piece – known as the “dragons’ armchair because of the ornate sculptures on its sweeping armrests – was created between 1917 and 1919 by Miss Gray.

She moved to London in 1898 to study at the Slade School of Fine Art and she became renowned for the luxurious finish of her lacquered furniture.