Canaletto Leads Christie's $75.86m 'Old Masters Evening Sale' in London

A work by Canaletto, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Christie's 'Old Masters Evening Sale' on July 1 in London.

• The sale totaled $75.86m (GBP55.26m), exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 34 works sold totaling $75.86m.
• Estimates totaled: $26.53m (low) and $40.98m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 81% of the original 42 lots announced.

The star lot was: Canaletto, Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day (Undated), which sold for $43.81m. Estimates were undisclosed. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 16 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 232% above its low estimate. Circle of Hieronymus Bosch, The Harrowing of Hell (Undated), sold for $225,100 ($67,800 low estimate). It has been traded 4 times in the past.

• 10 works, or 30%, sold above their high estimate.
• 20 works, or 61%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 3 works, or 9%, sold below their low estimate.
• 1 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

12 works were backed by guarantees, including: Jan Davidsz de Heem, A pie on a pewter plate, a partially peeled lemon and overturned silver spoon on a pewter plate, crayfish and shrimp in a Wanli bowl, fruit, a walnut and an oyster on a pewter plate, a basket of fruit, a fluted glass, a silver-gilt cup, a roemer, an overturned silver tazza on a strong box, a silver ewer and a bread roll all on a partially draped table with a curtain beyond (1649). It sold for $5.04m, 24% above its $4.07m low estimate.. It has been traded 8 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

5 works were bought-in, including: Balthasar van der Ast, Irises, roses, fritillaries and forget-me-nots in a Wanli vase with two shells and a beetle on a ledge (1622), estimated at $271,100 (low) to $406,600 (high). It has been traded twice in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

3 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Jacopo Bellini, Saint Benedict (?); and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: panels from a polyptych (Undated) estimated at $1.08m (low) to $1.62m (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.