Elizabeth R. Coffin
On January 29th, Sotheby's held The European Art Sale, Part II. Yet again, there were many works with condition issues, and surprisingly, several of them sold. I wonder if people buy works from simply viewing the images and not traveling to examine them in person. If so, when the paintings arrive, some of the buyers will probably wish they were not successful.
Coffin - detail
The top lot in this sale was one of the lower estimated works. Elizabeth R. Coffin's The Old Falconer of Ben Gana, Sheik of the Ziban sparked the most interest in the sale. It was expected to bring $10-15K and finally hammered at $80K ($100.8K w/p – almost seven times the high end of the estimate). What I found interesting is that the work had paint loss on the face of the figure, but here is what the condition report stated: The canvas is not lined. The paint surface is in good condition but under a soiled varnish. Under UV light, no apparent inpainting. I am not implying that this is a serious issue, but paint loss should be noted.
Harry Hall
The Marquis de Montgomery's Chestnut Filly, "La Toucques" at Chantilly by the British Victorian sporting artist Harry Hall, was the second most expensive work. The painting came from the Gaston collection, carried a $20-30K estimate, and sold for $40K ($50.4K w/p). This one had a good deal of restoration, and it was noted in their condition report: Lined canvas. The paint surface is in good condition and under a fairly clean varnish. Under UV light: scattered areas of inpainting throughout the sky and the ground; some inpainting to the jacket of the figure at left. The third spot saw Camille Joseph Etienne Roqueplan's 1836 Paris Salon painting Portrait of a Lady with Pink Sash. The work was estimated at $5-7K and hammered at $35K (44.1K w/p – more than six times the high estimate).
Roqueplan
Rounding out the top five... Salvatore Frangiamore's Ladies of the Harem at $30K ($37.8K w/p – est. $20-30K), and then there was a tie when Hans Buchner's The Ace of Hearts (est. $8-12K) and Lancelot-Théodore Turpin de Crissé's Monks in a Church Interior (est. $30-50K) each made $24K ($30K w/p). I guess one seller was happy, and the other not so much.
Other than those works mentioned above, only one additional work performed fairly well, Landini's La pâté en croute at $14K ($17.6K w/p – est. $3-5K). Several works did not leave the starting block – Ferneley, Sr's A Chestnut Hunter with Robert Day up (est. $70-90K), Ferneley, Jr's Outside Allington Hall ($30-40K), Cabanel's Portrait d'enfant aux jouets ($20-30K), and Adolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli's Les Orientales ($20-30K).
The sale consisted of 51 lots, of which 38 sold (74.5% sell-through rate), and the total take was $512.7K ($646K w/p). The presale estimate range was $613-895K, so it took the addition of the buyer's premium to hit the mark. Of the 38 sold works, 19 were below, 11 within, and 8 above their presale estimate range. When we added in the 13 unsold works, this gave them an accuracy rate of 21.5%.
It is becoming more and more evident that the main auction rooms are not the market makers for 19th-century works.