Auction Update Review
A Well-Earned Month Off... but still
For the week ending July 9th
eleven sales were archived in the AED: 2
in Swiss Francs, 5 in British Pounds, 3 in Euros and 1 in dollars. Two thousand five hundred and ninety-three
lots were offered and 1,590 sold for a relatively weak 61.1% sell-through. Total turnover was $19,441,528 on robust
sales at Christies that accounted for 77% or $15,129,568 of the week’s
total. It is very good to see them performing
well. For the week overall the results
were spotty and for the first time since we have been identifying sales that
reach or exceed 100% of the total high estimate no sale reached 100%. However, Christies reached 99% for its sale
of old master prints on July 7th and we’ll round up.
The top lots of the week, not
surprisingly, were sold at Christies on July 6th and 7th in
London. The Imhof Prayerbook [lot 26],
illuminated by Simon Bening, brought $2,606,985 on the 6th. The next highest realization was made in the
same sale: The Great Hours of Galeazzo
Maria Sforza, lot 18, that brought $1,971,945.
Christie’s then completed its win, place and show with its sale of an
Albrecht Durer engraving of Adam and Eve that was printed in 1504 [lot 25]. Estimated $400,000 to $600,000 it brought
$654,800 in London on the 7th.
For the week upcoming 5 sales are
scheduled:
Tuesday July 12th. Bonhams’
Prints;
Thursday July 14th. Bloomsbury
Auctions: Travel and Natural History;
Pacific Book
Auctions [PBA]: Americana – Travel
& Natural History -
Cartography: with Material from Calvin
P. Otto Collection;
Sotheby’s: English Literature, History, Children’s
Books & Illustrations;
Saturday July 16th. Heritage Auctions: Movie Posters
For those on or going on vacation –
bon voyage. For those who will be in the
rooms, bidding by phone or online – best of luck. In the banked embers of an auction season
moving into hiatus there are sometimes some very attractive possibilities.
Bruce McKinney
AE
10 July 2011