Christie's Old Masters Online Auction Totals $1.51m
3 min read · 19 Jun 2026
A Woman Lacemaking in an Interior by Michael Sweere sold for $102,700. Image courtesy of Christie's
A work by Michael Sweere was the headline sale at Christie's 'Maîtres Anciens : Peintures – Dessins - Sculptures – Orfèvrerie, online' auction on May 29-June 12 in Paris.
- The sale totaled $1.51m (EUR1.31m), falling short of its pre-sale low estimate.
Snapshot of the sale
- 86 works sold totaling $1.51m.
- Estimates totaled: $1.8m (low) and $2.72m (high), excluding premiums.
- The sell-through rate was 61% of the original 141 lots announced.
The star lot was: Michael Sweere, A Woman Lacemaking in an Interior (Undated), which sold for $102,700, 122% above its $46,200 low estimate. It has not been traded before.
The outperformer sold for 2018% above its low estimate. Henriette Ronner-knip, A Kitten (Undated), sold for $73,300 ($3,461 low estimate).
- 34 works, or 40%, sold above their high estimate.
- 32 works, or 37%, sold within their low and high estimate.
- 20 works, or 23%, 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: Antwerp School, 17th Century, Lazarus and the rich man (Undated), estimated at $92,300 (low) to $138,500 (high). It has not been traded before.
Withdrawn before the sale
1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Friedrich Hartmann, Covered bowl with allegories of the seasons (1876), estimated at $4,615 (low) to $6,923 (high).
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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.
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