That’s a bit steep: Eiffel Tower stairs sold at auction to Asian buyer for more than half a million euros
A section of stairs from the Eiffel Tower in Paris sold for more than half a million euros, auctioneers said Wednesday – more than 10 times the pre-sale estimate.
The battle over the phone and in the auction room ... showed the profound attachment there is for a monument that is so emblematic of French culture
The 14 wrought-iron steps from a winding staircase between the second and third floors of the Paris landmark went for €523,800 (US$556,000) after furious bidding at the sale in the French capital.
Auction house Artcurial said the dramatic sale on Tuesday had “unleashed the passions” of several international buyers, with bids rising rapidly from €20,000, leaving the €40,000 estimate far behind. The prize eventually fell to a telephone bid from an Asian buyer.
Auctioneer Francois Tajan said “the battle over the phone and in the auction room for the stairs showed the profound attachment there is for a monument that is so emblematic of French culture.”
The stairs date from 1889 when the legendary French engineer Gustave Eiffel built the 324-metreedifice as the centrepiece of the Paris Universal Exhibition.
It soon became the most iconic feature on the Paris skyline, and is France’s most visited monument despite suffering calls for its demolition in the years after the exhibition.
It is still the country’s third tallest structure, and was the highest building in the world for 41 years until the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930.