£1m minature

It stands two-and-a-quarter inches high, weighs one ounce and would look perfectly at home in a doll's house. But while its dimensions are small, its price-tag is anything but.

Indeed, this miniature Faberge chair has fetched £1.14million at a Sotheby's auction in New York. That makes it worth more than 3,000 times its weight in gold.
An unnamed buyer secured the chair after a fierce battle between two phone bidders during a Russian art sale.

The price came as no surprise to Faberge experts who say the miniature furniture is incredibly rare and hardly ever comes on the market. The Queen is one of the few people to own a collection. Several American museums boast that they have one or two pieces.

Made in 1900, the £1.14million gold and enamel chair has sabre-style legs. The back is a frieze of golden lyres.
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The seat is translucent green enamel to resemble-lustrous silk upholstery. A removable drawer beneath the seat has the initials of the craftsman who made it, Michael Perchin of St Petersburg, who worked for Carl Faberge, official jeweller to the imperial Russian court.

The chair was sold by an unnamed European family, believed to have connections to Russian royalty, who had owned it since it was made.

Dr Geza von Habsburg, a Faberge authority, said: "Faberge miniature furniture is exceedingly rare. The nummber of pieces is smaller even than the number of surviving Faberge Easter eggs, which is about 42."