Bronze Laocoön Sets London Old Master Auctions Ablaze at £13.6m

Auction houses flex muscles in historic art market

The summer Old Master auctions in London have once again demonstrated the growing influence of international auction houses in shaping the market for historic artworks. Christie's and Sotheby's both staged their Part I sales over consecutive evenings, revealing contrasting fortunes and buyer behaviours.

Christie's opened proceedings with a £38.9m total from 39 lots, comfortably within estimates but notably below last year's £55.3m performance. That previous figure had been buoyed by a record-breaking Canaletto, whereas this year's sale lacked comparable headline pieces. The closest equivalent was Sir Thomas Lawrence's 1821 portrait of the 1st Duke of Wellington in civilian dress, which sold for £9.7m to a single telephone bidder – establishing a new auction record for the artist. The work had previously changed hands in 2006 for £2.1m.

Two still lifes by Jan van Huysum proved equally sought-after, each selling for multiples of their estimates. The decorative 18th-century Dutch paintings, formerly owned by the Rothschild family, realised £6.5m and £5.5m respectively. Only five lots failed to find buyers, and notably, the £100,000-£500,000 price range – historically challenging – showed renewed vigour. Works by Sebastian Vrancx and Jan Davidsz. de Heem both exceeded expectations, selling for £596,900 and £508,000.

According to Christie's global head of Old Masters, private buyers accounted for 40% of the sale's value, with significant growth from Asian collectors and those transitioning from Modern and contemporary art. Specialist dealer Salomon Lilian observed that dealers are increasingly absent from these rooms, citing diminishing profit margins.

Sotheby's bronze sensation

The following evening, Sotheby's generated headlines with Auguste-Jean-Marie Carbonneaux's 1817 bronze replica of the Laocoön group. One of only four full-size casts, the sculpture had passed through distinguished English hands including William Beckford and the 10th Duke of Hamilton. After a 15-minute bidding battle involving four telephone bidders, it sold for £13.6m – nearly seven times its low estimate and ranking as the second-highest price ever achieved for pre-Modern sculpture.

The remainder of Sotheby's 45-lot sale struggled to match this opening flourish. A re-catalogued Rembrandt from around 1627, depicting Christ blessing children, sold for £8m to its third-party guarantor. Extensive conservation had revealed the work as an unfinished early piece by the Dutch master, though its condition and complex attribution history limited broader appeal.

Sir Edwin Landseer's monumental 9ft-high Scene in Braemar - Highland Deer also commanded attention, selling for £5.9m to three telephone bidders. The 1857 work, featuring additional deer beyond his famous Monarch of the Glen, represented the type of trophy piece coveted by ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Despite these highlights, Sotheby's achieved £37.8m with fees – more than double last summer's disappointing £14.5m but with a higher unsold rate of 23%. The unpredictable nature of demand was evident throughout, with dealers largely absent and private collectors driving results across price points.

The sales underscore a market in transition, where global wealth intersects with increasingly selective tastes for historic artworks.