Led by a vintage print of Gloria Swanson by Edward Steichen, and then topped by a rare Camp de Châlons album by Gustave Le Gray, the Photographs auction at Phillips in London last week performed solidly. In addition to the two high priced outcomes, a number of lower priced records were set for artists ranging from Markus Brunetti and Tania Franco Klein to Ihei Kimura and Rika Noguchi, among others. Statistically, the overall Buy-In rate for the sale came in under 20%, and with a handful of positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds (of nearly £2.2M) came in near the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 130 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £1558000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £2245000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 105 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 25 |
| Buy In % | 19.23% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £2198637 |
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 | 52 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 45 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 7 |
| Low Buy In % | 13.46% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £297000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £316827 |
| Mid Total Lots | 70 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 52 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 18 |
| Mid Buy In % | 25.71% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £1118000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £948150 |
| Total High Lots | 8 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £830000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £933660 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 33, Edward Steichen, Gloria Swanson, New York, 1924, estimated at £240000-340000; it sold at £277200, but it was not the top outcome of the sale. That honor went to lot 34, Gustave Le Gray, Souvenirs du Camp de Châlons au Général Regnaud de Saint-Jean d’Angély (album of 66 albumen prints), 1857, estimated at £100000-150000, sold at £327600 (image above, via Phillips).
86.67%% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 6 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Phillips):
Lot 10, Peter Beard, Fayel Tall on Lake Rudolf at Loingalani, El Molo Bay, 1987, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £16380
Lot 13, Peter Beard, Joy Mboya, Loyangalani, Lake Rudolf, Kenya, 1993, estimated at £4000-6000, sold at £18900
Lot 34, Gustave Le Gray, Souvenirs du Camp de Châlons au Général Regnaud de Saint-Jean d’Angély (album of 66 albumen prints), 1857, estimated at £100000-150000, sold at £327600
Lot 42, Noguchi Rika, フジヤマ [Fujiyama] A Prime #1, 1997, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £63000
Lot 55, Peter Beard, Orphaned cheetah cubs @ Mweiga nr. Nyeri (KENYA) for The End of the Game / Last word from Paradise, 1968, estimated at £20000-30000, sold at £126000
Lot 133, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Winston Churchill, Liverpool, 1951/1979, estimated at £1000-2000, sold at £11340
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
