Sotheby's Old Master Paintings & Works on Paper Day Auction Totals $4.92m

A work by Anthony van Dyck was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Old Master Paintings & Works on Paper Day Auction' on July 2 in London.

• The sale totaled $4.92m (GBP3.72m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 105 works sold totaling $4.92m.
• Estimates totaled: $3.37m (low) and $4.97m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 76% of the original 139 lots announced.

The star lot was: Anthony van Dyck, Head study of a man in a ruff (Portrait of a magistrate) (Undated), which sold for $542,000, 310% above its $132,100 low estimate. It has been traded once in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1022% above its low estimate. Follower of Jan Brueghel the Elder, A concert of birds, or An Allegory of Sound (Undated), sold for $118,600 ($10,600 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 41 works, or 39%, sold above their high estimate.
• 33 works, or 31%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 31 works, or 30%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

30 works were bought-in, including: Jacob Adriaensz Backer, Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, wearing a brocaded doublet and lace collar, before a red velvet curtain (Undated), estimated at $158,500 (low) to $237,800 (high). It has been traded once in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

4 works were withdrawn before the sale, including: Circle of Francois Boucher, Young woman seated in a landscape, with a basket of flowers and a dove (Undated), estimated at $10,600 (low) to $15,900 (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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.