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Edouard Frederic Wilhelm Richter Leads Bonhams $704,400 'British and European Art' Auction

3 min read  ·  14 Nov 2024

The tambourine player by Edouard Frederic Wilhelm Richter sold for $31,000.
Image courtesy of Bonhams

The tambourine player by Edouard Frederic Wilhelm Richter sold for $31,000. Image courtesy of Bonhams

A work by Edouard Frederic Wilhelm Richter was the headline sale at Bonhams 'British and European Art' auction on November 13.

  • The sale totaled $704,400 (GBP553,000), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

  • 148 works sold totaling $704,400.
  • Estimates totaled: $549,500 (low) and $798,000 (high), excluding premiums.
  • The sell-through rate was 69% of the original 216 lots announced.

The star lot was: Edouard Frederic Wilhelm Richter, The tambourine player (1873), which sold for $31,000, 300% above its $7,737 low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 2270% above its low estimate. Richard Whately West, Laiguglia, Liguria (1900), sold for $24,500 ($1,032 low estimate).

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

  • 80 works, or 54%, sold above their high estimate.
  • 60 works, or 41%, sold within their low and high estimate.
  • 8 works, or 5%, sold below their low estimate.
  • 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

68 works were bought-in, including: Fedot Vasilievich Sychkov, Children sledding (1910), estimated at $23,200 (low) to $25,800 (high). It has been traded twice in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn

Terms and definitions

All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.

Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.

Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.

Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.