Christie’s Old Master Paintings and Sculpture Part II Sale Totals $3.51m

A work by Jan Wildens & Attributed To Frans Snyders was the headline sale at Christie's 'Old Master Paintings and Sculpture Part II' auction on February 4 in New York.

• The sale totaled $3.51m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 61 works sold totaling $3.51m.
• Estimates totaled: $2.53m (low) and $3.74m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 65% of the original 94 lots announced.

The star lot was: Jan Wildens & Attributed To Frans Snyders, The Tortoise and the Hare (Undated), which sold for $381,000, 1170% above its $30,000 low estimate. It has changed hands several times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1741% above its low estimate. Ambrosius Francken II, Christ in the House of Simon, with a painted frame depicting scenes from the Life of Christ and painted drawings of the four Evangelists (Undated), sold for $368,300 ($20,000 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 34 works, or 56%, sold above their high estimate.
• 14 works, or 23%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 13 works, or 21%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

33 works were bought-in, including: Michele Tosini, Portrait of a young girl, bust length (Undated), estimated at $80,000 (low) to $120,000 (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 lot was withdrawn before the sale.

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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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