Sotheby's Old Master & 19th Century Paintings and Sculpture Evening Auction Totals $49.91m

A work by Rembrandt, which had a guarantee, was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Old Master & 19th Century Paintings and Sculpture Evening Auction' on July 1 in London.

• The sale totaled $49.91m (GBP37.71m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 35 works sold totaling $49.91m.
• Estimates totaled: $41.16m (low) and $59.6m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 74% of the original 47 lots announced.

The star lot was: Rembrandt, 'Let The Little Children Come Unto Me' (Undated), which sold for $10.59m, its estimated price. The work was backed by a guarantee. It has been traded 6 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 541% above its low estimate. Flemish school, Creation (Undated), sold for $1.02m ($158,500 low estimate). It has been traded 3 times in the past.

• 19 works, or 54%, sold above their high estimate.
• 15 works, or 43%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 1 works, or 3%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

8 works were backed by guarantees, including: Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, Scene in Braemar – Highland Deer (Undated). It sold for $7.87m, 98% above its $3.96m low estimate.. It has been traded 10 times in the past.

Works that did not sell

10 works were bought-in, including: Paulus Potter, Landscape with livestock and a milkmaid (1646), estimated at $2.64m (low) to $3.96m (high). It has been traded 13 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

2 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Hendrik Goltzius, Christ as the Living Tree by Ecclesia (1610), estimated at $1.06m (low) to $1.59m (high).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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.