Another Spitfire flew into the record books in London on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. It sold for a world record price of £3,106,500 to contribute to an extraordinary week at Christie’s. The Exceptional Sale and sales of Old Master and British Paintings, the collection of a Swiss Gentleman, Taste of the Royal Court with French furniture and works of art from a private collection and Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours have achieved £48,451,788 so far. A total of 14 works sold for over £1 million.
Among the highlights are the unique last of its kind Mark 1 Spitfire; a 19th century Luba female figure for a bowstand, which made £6,130,500, the second highest price at auction for an African work of art and the world record price at auction for a Luba figure; the most important oil by Richard Parkes Bonington to come to the market in a generation which made £2,490,500, a world record price for the artist at auction; and the only surviving armchair from the most expensive suite made for the French queen Marie Antoinette which made £1,762,500, a new world record price at auction for an 18th century chair. The Old Master & British Paintings Day Sale takes place today.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 28, 2015)
This fauteuil en bergere supplied to Marie Antoinette for the Pavilion Belvedere sold for £1,762,500.
The Spitfire in Flight – copyright 2011 John Dibbs.