Winston Churchill Leads Christie's $6.7m 'Modern British and Irish Day Sale'

A work by Winston Churchill's was the headline sale at Christie's "Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale" on October 23 in London.

• The sale totaled $6.65m (£4.98m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 127 works sold totaling $6.65m.
• Estimates totaled: $4.68m (low) and $6.97m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 84% of the original 151 lots announced.

The star lot was: Winston Churchill, Recco, Italy (1945), which sold for $543,400, 237% above its $160,900 low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1115% above its low estimate. John Piper, Fawley Bottom (1981), sold for $81,500 ($6,705 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 81 works, or 64%, sold above their high estimate.
• 38 works, or 30%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 8 works, or 6%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

35 works were backed by guarantees, including: Lucie Rie, Bottle with flared lip (1988). It sold for $17,000, 5% above its $16,100 low estimate.. It has not been traded before.

Works that did not sell

24 works were bought-in, including: William Turnbull, Paddle Venus 2 (1986), estimated at $134,100 (low) to $201,100 (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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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