Old Master & Early British Drawings and Watercolours

This Old Master & Early British Drawings & Watercolours sale realised a total of £4,164,900/$6,534,728/€5,176,971 and was sold 84% by lot and 85% by value.

The top lot was John Martin (1789-1854), The Destruction Of Pharaoh’s Host, 1836, which fetched £758,050/$1,189,380/€942,256, setting a world auction record for a drawing by the artist.

Benjamin Peronnet, International Head of Department, Old Master Drawings & Harriet Drummond, International Head of Department, British Drawings and Watercolours commented:“The strong results achieved for the sale of ‘Old Master & Early British Drawings & Watercolours’ are a testament to the continuing popularity of this collecting field with private collectors, museums and art dealers. Six world auction records were set for Old Master drawings and bidding was very strong throughout with a very high sold percentage for the category. We are especially pleased with the results achieved by the group of recently discovered drawings by Rembrandt and his circle, which fetched a combined total of £263,475, and by the prices achieved by the works of Isaac Oliver, Charles de La Fosse, and Michelangelo Anselmi. The dramatic watercolour by John Martin performed exceptionally well achieving the highest price ever paid for a watercolour by the artist and more than doubling its pre-sale estimate. The group of newly discovered Constables also far exceeded their pre-sale estimates, achieving a combined total of over £70,000. Early British and Golden Age drawings saw competitive bidding, realising £1,390,725, with superb prices throughout. These results augur extremely well for  the sale of ‘Andrew Wyld: Connoisseur Dealer Part I’ on Tuesday 10 July, which will be viewing in full from Friday 6 July.