Rembrandt's Lion Leads Sotheby's $19.8m Master Works on Paper Auction

A work by Rembrandt was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries' auction on February 4 in New York.

• The sale totaled $19.78m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 34 works sold totaling $19.78m.
• Estimates totaled: $16.32m (low) and $21.88m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 83% of the original 41 lots announced.

The star lot was: Rembrandt, Young Lion Resting (Undated) from The Leiden Collection, sold for $17.86m, 19% above its $15m low estimate, becoming the most expensive drawing by Rembrandt sold at auction. The proceeds from the auction will benefit Panthera, an organisation that is devoted to protecting wild cats.

The outperformer sold for 1424% above its low estimate. Gabriel Francois Doyen, An Allegory of Fishing (The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite) (Undated), sold for $228,600 ($15,000 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 16 works, or 47%, sold above their high estimate.
• 9 works, or 26%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 9 works, or 26%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

7 works were bought-in, including: Anthony van Dyck, Recto: An old bearded man holding a bundle beneath his arm Verso: Various composition studies (Undated), estimated at $300,000 (low) to $400,000 (high). It has been traded 6 times 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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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