Most Expensive Piece of Furniture: The Badminton Cabinet

Price: $36,662,106

This piece is not actually used for the sport of Badminton in any way, but draws its name from the home of the Dukes of Beaufort, for whom it was made. The Badminton Cabinet was made for Henry Somerset, 3rd Duke of Beaufort, by the Grand Ducal workshops in Florence, from 1720-1732, under the supervision of the Foggini family. The Cabinet incorporates an amazing wealth of materials, from lapis lazuli, agate and Sicilian red and green jasper, to chalcedony and amethyst quartz. It was purchased at a Christie’s auction in 2004 by Dr. Johan Kraeftner, Director of the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, on behalf of Prinz Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein for the same museum.