While Iain Macmillan’s iconic Abbey Road images soared to nearly £180000, that sale alone wasn’t enough to prop up the recent Photographs & Photobooks auction at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury in London. Fighting an Overall Buy-In rate over 50%, the Total Sale Proceeds worked hard to flirt with the low end of the pre-sale estimate range.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 223 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £442950 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £631100 |
| Total Lots Sold | 107 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 116 |
| Buy In % | 52.02% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £420373 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 204 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 100 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 104 |
| Low Buy In % | 50.98% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £372100 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £188493 |
| Mid Total Lots | 18 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 6 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 12 |
| Mid Buy In % | 66.67% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £189000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £52080 |
| 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 | £70000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £179800 |
The top lot by High estimate was lot 152, Iain Macmillan, The Abbey Road Session, The Complete Set, 8 August 1969, 1969/later, estimated at £50000-70000; it was also the top outcome of the sale at £179800 (image in the preview post).
80.37% of the 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):
Lot 136, René Burri, Sao Paolo, Brazil, 1960/later, estimated at £2500-3500, sold at £7192 (image above, right, via Dreweatts & Bloomsbury)
Lot 144, Martin Parr, The Last Resort, 1983-1986/2002, estimated at £1500-2000, sold at £5952
Lot 152, Iain Macmillan, The Abbey Road Session, The Complete Set, 8 August 1969, 1969/later, estimated at £50000-70000, sold at £179800
Lot 182, Jonas Bendiksen, Villagers Collecting Scrap from a Crashed Space Craft, Altai Territory, 2000, estimated at £800-1200, sold at £2728 (image above, middle, via Dreweatts & Bloomsbury)
Lot 186, Valérie Belin, Têtes Couronnées #5, 2009, estimated at £3000-5000, sold at £13640 (image above, left, via Dreweatts & Bloomsbury)
Complete lot by lot results can be found here.
