Louis Wain's Cats Lead Bonhams $1m 'Modern British & Irish Art' Auction in London

A work by Louis William Wain was the headline sale at Bonhams 'Modern British & Irish Art' auction on November 27 in London.

• The sale totaled $1.06m (GBP844,000), exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 181 works sold totaling $1.06m.
• Estimates totaled: $696,200 (low) and $1.03m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 76% of the original 239 lots announced.

The star lot was: Louis William Wain, Spring Cleaning (Undated), which sold for $40,300, 936% above its $3,890 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 1972% above its low estimate. Fred Yates, Polruan (Undated), sold for $16,100 ($778 low estimate).

• 100 works, or 55%, sold above their high estimate.
• 75 works, or 41%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 6 works, or 3%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

54 works were bought-in, including: Bryan Pearce, Porthleven (Undated), estimated at $15,600 (low) to $23,300 (high). It has been traded once 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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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