Mario Testino’s name proved to be a solid provenance for the photographs found in the recent Shake It Up sales at Sotheby’s in London. With an overall Buy-In rate for the photography just above 25% and a few positive surprises across the two sales, the Total Sale Proceeds flirted with the top end of the aggregate pre-sale estimate.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 62 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | £1618500 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | £2296000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 45 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 17 |
| Buy In % | 27.42% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | £2224500 |
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 | 3 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 3 |
| Low Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | £19000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | £12375 |
| Mid Total Lots | 37 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 27 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 10 |
| Mid Buy In % | 27.03% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | £437000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | £317125 |
| Total High Lots | 19 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 15 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 4 |
| High Buy In % | 21.05% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | £1840000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | £1895000 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was tied between two lots: lot 7, Richard Prince, Untitled (Girlfriend), 1993, and lot 12, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #145, 1985, both estimated at £250000-350000 (images in preview post). The Prince print was the top photography outcome of the sales at £554750, while the Sherman print sold at £272750.
77.78% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range, and there were a total of 3 positive surprises in the sales (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate) (images above via Sotheby’s):
Lot 120, Cindy Sherman, Untitled, 1989, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £15000
Lot 150, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Untitled, 1997-1998, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £15000
Lot 151, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Untitled, 1997-1998, estimated at £5000-7000, sold at £18750
The complete lot by lot results can be found here (Afternoon) and here (Day). The results of the Online sale are not available.
