An overall Buy-In rate over 50% proved to be a drag on the results of the recent photography sale at Ader in Paris. The top lot Claude Cahun print sold within its estimate range, but there weren’t enough valuable positive surprises to pick up the slack created by all the other passed lots. When the tally was complete, the Total Sale Proceeds (of roughly €495K) fell meaningfully below the low end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 329 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | €701300 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | €1014400 |
| Total Lots Sold | 146 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 183 |
| Buy In % | 55.62% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | €495360 |
Here is the breakdown (using our typical Low, Mid, and High definitions):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 311 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 140 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 171 |
| Low Buy In % | 54.98% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | €631400 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | €340480 |
| Mid Total Lots | 17 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 5 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Mid Buy In % | 70.59% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | €323000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | €103680 |
| Total High Lots | 1 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 0 |
| High Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | €60000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | €51200 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 185, Claude Cahun, Untitled (skull and glass), 1936, estimated at €40000-60000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at €51200 (image above, via Ader).
97.27% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there were a total of 14 positive surprises in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate). The 6 positive surprises with outcomes above €5000 are listed below (images above, via Ader):
Lot 51, Charles Aubry, Plant studies (10 prints), c1865, estimated at €1000-1500, sold at €15360
Lot 74, Albert d’Amade – Thomas Child – Lai Afong and others, China (album of 25 prints), c1875-1890, estimated at €3000-4000, sold at €10880
Lot 124, Wilson Bentley, Snowflake, c1930, estimated at €600-800, sold at €6144
Lot 158, Raoul Hausmann, Château Cauchemar, La Sarraz, 1938, estimated at €2500-3500, sold at €7680
Lot 162, Jean Moral, Photogram [string and fabric], c1925-1930, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €6400
Lot 315, Martin Parr, New Brighton, Merseyside, 1983-1985/c2000, estimated at €2000-3000, sold at €6144
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
