Part of what auction houses do is provide liquidity to the art market, and for this modest single collector sale, Phillips got the job done. With a range of 20th century black-and-white photographs on offer (mostly later prints, and many sold without reserves), the online sale had a Buy-In rate of just under 2%. While there were few surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of just under £200K) fell neatly in the middle of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 55 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £158000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £241000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 54 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Buy In % | 1.82% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £196434 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions). Given recent currency fluctuations, we have once again re-adapted our local currency thresholds to match roughly $10000 and $50000 break points between categories.
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 54 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 53 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Low Buy In % | 1.85% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £226000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £190134 |
| Mid Total Lots | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £15000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £6300 |
| Total High Lots | 0 |
| Total High Lots Sold | NA |
| Total High Lots Bought In | NA |
| High Buy In % | NA |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £0 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £0 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 1, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brie, France, 1968/later, estimated at £10000-15000; it sold at £6300, but it was not the top outcome of the sale. That honor went to lot 22, Terry O’Neill, Faye Dunaway, Hollywood, 1977/later, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £20160 (image above, via Phillips).
Only 53.70% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 2 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 22, Terry O’Neill, Faye Dunaway, Hollywood, 1977/later, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £20160
Lot 52, Terry O’Neill, Frank Sinatra on the Boardwalk, Miami, 1968/later, estimated at £2000-3000, sold at £7560
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
