The results of the recent Photographs sale at Phillips in London were solidly respectable. The overall Buy-In rate hovered near 22% and nearly all of the top lots found buyers. While there were few unexpected positive surprises, the Total Sale Proceeds easily settled into 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 | 97 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £1190500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £1721500 |
| Total Lots Sold | 75 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 22 |
| Buy In % | 22.68% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £1548750 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 22 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 4 |
| Low Buy In % | 18.18% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £94500 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £89500 |
| Mid Total Lots | 53 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 38 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 15 |
| Mid Buy In % | 28.30% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £577000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £455500 |
| Total High Lots | 22 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 19 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 3 |
| High Buy In % | 13.64% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £1050000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £1003750 |
The top lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 37, Helena Almeida, Ponto de Fuga (Vanishing Point), 1982, and lot 48, Steven Meisel, CK One, New York City, 1994, both estimated at £60000-80000 (images in preview post). Each work sold at £75000, but neither was the top outcome of the sale. That honor went to lot 30, Irving Penn, Single Oriental Poppy, New York, 1968/1989, estimated at £50000-70000, sold at £118750 (image in preview post).
An impressive 100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, but there were only 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 59, Malick Sidibé, Nuit de Noël (Happy-Club), 1963/2003, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £15000
Lot 76, Joseph Szabo, Priscilla, 1969/2000s, estimated at £1500-2500, sold at £6000
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
