The Buy-In rate was the dampening effect that muted the results of Sotheby’s recent various owner Photographs sale in London. With more than 44% of the lots failing to find buyers, and without enough positive surprises to make up the difference, it is no surprise that the Total Sale Proceeds fell below the pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 139 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £2005000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £2877000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 77 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 62 |
| Buy In % | 44.60% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1667875 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 6 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 5 |
| Low Buy In % | 83.33% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £30000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £3250 |
| Mid Total Lots | 107 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 63 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 44 |
| Mid Buy In % | 41.12% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £1382000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £999625 |
| Total High Lots | 26 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 13 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 13 |
| High Buy In % | 50.00 |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £1465000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £665000 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 44, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Untitled (FGM78), 1923-1925/1929 and lot 46, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Untitled (FGM80A), 1923-1925/1929, both estimated at £100000-150000. The first Moholy-Nagy sold for £125000 and was the top outcome of the sale, while the second failed to sell.
96.10% of the photo lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 5 surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images below via Sotheby’s):
Lot 7, Helmut Newton, Woman into Man, Paris, 1979/1984, estimated at £7000-10000, sold at £40000
Lot 13, Nobuyoshi Araki, Yakusa, 1994, estimated at £8000-12000, sold at £43750
Lot 16, Horst P. Horst, Round the Clock II, New York, 1987, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £17500
Lot 17, Irving Penn, Chanel Feather Headdress (B), New York, 1994/2005, estimated at £15000-20000, sold at £68250 (image in preview post)
Lot 61, Erwin Blumenfeld, Shadow Profile, New York, 1944, estimated at £18000-23000, sold at £47500
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
