A pencil and watercolour war work by Sir William Orpen sold for £98,500 over an estimate of £12,000-18,000 at Sotheby’s in London. Completed in 1917 The Howitzer in Action was from the collection of renewed arbiter of taste and London club owner Mark Birley (1930-2007).
The contents of Mr. Birley’s London home, Thurloe Lodge in Kensington, doubled pre-sale expectations to sell for a combined total of £3,854,619 over an estimate of £1.2 million to £1.8 million. Over 850 people registered to bid and there was fierce competition both in the room and on the phone. More than over 85% of the 496 lots sold exceeded their high estimates and only five lots were unsold.