Charles M Russell Leads Christie's $14.7m Collection Day Sale

A work by Charles M Russell was the headline sale at Christie's 'Visions of the West: The William I. Koch Collection Day Sale' on January 21 in New York.

• The sale totaled $14.7m, exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 48 works sold totaling $14.7m.
• Estimates totaled: $7.83m (low) and $11.62m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 94% of the original 51 lots announced.

The star lot was: Charles M Russell, The Whoop-Up Trail (1899), which sold for $3.25m, 170% above its $1.2m low estimate. It has been traded 5 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 843% above its low estimate. David Mann, Buffalo Hunt (Undated), sold for $66,000 ($7,000 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 36 works, or 75%, sold above their high estimate.
• 8 works, or 17%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 4 works, or 8%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

2 works were bought-in, including: Jasper Francis Cropsey, Dawn of Morning, Lake George (1868), estimated at $300,000 (low) to $500,000 (high). It has been traded 7 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

1 work was withdrawn before the sale: Frederic Remington, The Rattlesnake (1913) estimated at $150,000 (low) to $250,000 (high).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. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.