Christie's auction house
- A chandelier purchased at an antique store for just $300 has sold at auction for $3.5 million.
- The auction was held at Christie's in London on February 28.
- Artist John Craxton stumbled across the Alberto Giacometti chandelier in a London shop in the 1960s.
A chandelier purchased at an antique store for just £250 ($300) has sold at auction for £2.9 million ($3.5 million).
Artist John Craxton stumbled across the Alberto Giacometti chandelier in a London antique store in the 1960s, Christie's auction house explained. Craxton couldn't believe his eyes — or his luck, according to Christie's. Leaving the shop, he banged his head on a low-hanging chandelier he recognized instantly.
The shop listed its maker as "unknown." However, Craxton knew full well that the chandelier had been made by the renowned Swiss sculptor Giacometti a couple of decades earlier. He promptly paid £250, all of his savings, for the piece and kept it for the rest of his life until he passed away in 2009.
In an auction of Craxton's art collection held on February 28, the bronze chandelier, made in 1946, outsold its top estimate of £2.5 million ($3 million).
The chandelier had been made for the offices of a contemporary art magazine. When it closed down, the chandelier was put in storage. It is unknown how it ended up in the antique shop in London, said Christie's.
Giacometti, who spent his life in Switzerland and died in 1966, was best known for his sculpture work, with his L'homme au doigt selling at Christie's for $141,285,000 in 2015.
His chandelier, however, was in line with his sculpture work, with Michelle McMullan, Christie's senior specialist, and head of the 20th-century evening sales, telling CNN the work is a "sculpture in its own right."
She described the chandelier as a culmination of Giacometti's works and styles, yet also a totally unique piece of work from the artist.
"I just think it's a great combination of Giacometti's sculptural language, combined with the refinement of his works in design," she told the news site.