Christie's Results
December 7 2023
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Today's Christie's London Old Master Paintings Part I sale realised a total of £21,906,820 (inc. fees) with 31 out of 40 lots being sold (75.6% sell-through rate).*
The top lot in their sale, a very fine pair of Canalettos, hammered at £8.2m (£9,740,000 inc. fees). Although I was wasn't able to watch the auction as it happened (please correct me if I am wrong), this result appears to suggest that there were at least two bidders involved, and not just the single third-party IB guarantor as per yesterday's result down the road.
Several paintings performed very well against their estimates, including the curious Michael Sweerts which made £1,734,000 over its estimate of £400k - £600k and the Claude de Jongh view of Old London Bridge which realised £233,100 over its £60k - £80k estimate.
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It appears that this December both auction houses were rather neck and neck in terms of results, with Christie's securing a victory with a slightly bigger sale helped by a fine set of Rembrandt prints. The fiercely competitive nature of securing consignments, and the behind the doors deals involved in securing such business, means that we'll never have a true picture of which of the houses was more profitable.
Ultimately, the relative size of these sales to previous years may point towards how thin the market is currently, where London is concerned at least. This might mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things in the world of Old Masters though. With the New York sales fast approaching, and several big ticket pictures already announced, all eyes will be turned towards the next sale season at the end of January!
I'll post an update tomorrow regarding some intriguing results in the day sales, which can be equally fascinating in their own right!
* - As I included the single Rembrandt print in the Sotheby's total, I thought I would keep the several Rembrandt prints in this total also.
