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.