‘Hippopotame Bar’ Snags $31.4M, Shattering Auction Records

Hippopotame Bar by François-Xavier Lalanne on Auction at Sotheby’s

“Hippopotame Bar” by François-Xavier Lalanne. (Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s)

In 1976, François-Xavier Lalanne produced a rather unusual bar in the shape of a hippopotamus. A unique piece composed of hand-wrought copper, steel, and wood, Hippopotame Bar is a cabinet of whimsy, complete with hidden compartments that pop out of the animal’s side, including a revolving bottle rack, ice bucket, and food tray. Now, nearly five decades after its creation, the bar was sold for a staggering $31.4 million during a Sotheby’s auction on December 10, 2025. The sale not only shattered Lalanne’s secondary-market record, but now stands as the world’s most valuable design object ever sold at auction.

The French artist originally designed Hippopotame Bar as a commission for the late Anne Schlumberger, an oil heiress, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She was said to have served chips and salsa from the bar, which headlined the Sotheby’s auction alongside other works from her sprawling collection. Highlights included several designs by Lalanne’s wife and creative partner, Claude Lalanne, such as a gold-patinated bronze armchair and bronze garden gates featuring delicate tangles of ivy and butterflies.

Throughout his career, Lalanne nursed a particular affinity for the hippopotamus. In 1992, he designed a life-size family of bronze hippopotamuses, whose moveable parts opened to reveal an eccentric bathroom set consisting of a fully functioning bathtub, sink and vanity, and toilet and bidet. The hippopotamus might’ve been his greatest muse, but Lalanne enjoyed reimagining other animals as well. His 1964 Rhinocrétaire I, for instance, assumed the form of a brass rhinoceros, inside of which a desk, safe, bar, and wine storage were hidden. The work fetched €18.3 million (about $19.8 million at the time) at Christie’s Paris in 2023, the artist’s previous auction record.

Still, Hippopotame Bar is remarkably unique, not just because it’s a one-of-a-kind piece, but because it’s the first and only copper creation from Lalanne’s hippo bar series. The bar also served as a prototype for the later bronze edition, introduced by Lalanne in 1978. This rarity contributed to the bar’s price tag, which was set between $7 million and $10 million. After a 26-minute bidding war, Hippopotame Bar ultimately exceeded estimates by more than $20 million.

“Our mother’s collection reflects the breadth of her curiosity and the connections she found across disciplines—bringing together painting, sculpture, design, and jewelry in ways that felt both natural and surprising,” the Schlumberger family remarked in a statement. “Hippopotame Bar, like so many pieces she lived with, embodied her sense of wonder, humor, and love of life.”

To learn more about the auction and Hippopotame Bar, visit the Sotheby’s website.