At $31.4 million, this Lalanne hippo just smashed another world auction record at Sotheby’s

Someone clearly wanted a hippopotamus for Christmas.

Last night, a hippo-shaped bar cabinet designed by French artist François-Xavier Lalanne fetched an eye-watering $31.4 million as part of an auction at Sotheby's global headquarters in New York.

The sale, more than triple the work's high estimate of $10 million, is the highest-ever price for Lalanne at auction. It also marks a global record for a work of design.

Seven bidders battled it out for the copper-clad pachyderm, titled Hippopotame Bar, pièce unique, in a skirmish that stretched on for nearly half an hour, a testament to the global mania for all things Lalanne. Just five months ago at Sotheby's, a rhino-shaped bar by Lalanne, Grand Rhinocrétaire II, sold for an jaw-dropping $16.4 million.

The hippo, though, is particularly desirable. It was commissioned in 1976 by Anne Schlumberger, an heiress, philanthropist and patron of the arts, and is the only one of its type to have been produced. Clever doors concealed in its loin, head and leg reveal an ice bucket, a revolving bottle rack and space for hors d'oeuvres and glassware.

'This bar represents the pinnacle of his artistic collaboration with one of his most notable patrons,' a Sotheby's press release noted.

Yesterday's sale was one in a series of auctions of Schlumberger's collection which – in addition to more pieces by François-Xavier Lalanne and his wife and creative partner, Claude – included works by Claude Monet and Salvador Dalí.

Still, says Sotheby's chairman and co-head of 20th-century design Jodi Pollack, Schlumberger's 'pioneering support of Les Lalannes stands out: the Schlumberger Collection remains one of the greatest assemblages of their work in this country and a lasting testament to her legacy'.