PARIS (AFP).- A silver-plated press used to squeeze blood and bone marrow from ducks for a signature dish at legendary Paris restaurant Tour d'Argent fetched more than 40,000 euros ($45,000) at auction on Monday.
The duck press from the 19th-century manufacturer Christofle, inscribed with the famous Left Bank restaurant's emblem, sold to a French collector for roughly 10 times the estimate of between 4,000 and 6,000 euros.
The restaurant, which offers stunning views of the river Seine and Notre Dame cathedral, says it has served some 1.15 million dishes of "Canard a la Presse" since 1890.
The silver press, one of four owned by the Michelin-starred restaurant that is said to have been founded in 1582, was among some 3,000 items including silver cutlery, glasses and bottles of liquor going under the hammer at the Artcurial auction house in the two-day sale.
The lots belong either to the restaurant itself, or the Terrail family, which has owned the restaurant since the start of the 20th century.
The auction house expects the sale to raise between 400,000 and 500,000 euros.
Among the liquors in the catalogue are three bottles of 1788 Clos de Griffier cognac valued at between 20,000 and 25,000 euros each.
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