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The successful bidder, an unidentified
collector from the Middle East, acquired a section of the
129-year-old iron landmark that measures 4.3 meters (14 feet) in
height, weighs about 900 kilos (1,984 pounds) and includes about
25 steps.
The piece, which came from a private collection in Canada, had
connected the top two floors of the Eiffel Tower. It is one of
24 sections that were cut out in 1983 following the installation
of a lift between the two floors.
Other sections of the staircase can be found in sites such as
the Yoishii Foundation gardens in Japan, near the Statue of
Liberty in New York and in Disneyland in Florida.
The piece sold on Tuesday had been on public display for 20 days
in the courtyard of the auction house on the Champs-Elysees.
Tuesday's bidding was less frenetic than in 2016, when another
portion of the Eiffel Tower went for 523,800 euros, exceeding
its estimate tenfold.
($1 = 0.8853 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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