Monday’s RM Sotheby’s sale brought with it both protest and price drops
On Monday in London, RM Sotheby’s conducted their annual auction in Battersea Park. It featured a highlight of a 1958 Ferrari 250 TDF that eventually sold for a hammer price of £4.25 million (against an estimate of £4.5 million to £5.5 million) but what was most notable was that many lots simply failed to sell or went at prices on or below their lower guides.
At the sale in 2014, a 1984 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 shot through the price ceiling and sold for £140,000 (on a guide of £60,000 to £95,000) but this time, the story was very different. A nigh on identical car (guided at a punchy £120,000 to £150,000) passed after bidding peaked at £90,000.
The 1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I – featured on these pages previously – owned by the Bond franchise set designer Sir Ken Adam performed reasonably and went for £195,000 (guide £175,000 to £200,000) but a 1964 Maserati Mistral 3.7 Spyder once owned by Diana Dors scraped through at £5,000 under its £475,000 lower guide at £470,000.
Outside the auction, there was another kind of activity as a large group of protestors from a group named the United Voices of the World Union had gathered to highlight the plight of two dismissed Sotheby’s cleaning workers. They made a lot of noise but didn’t seem to drum up much support and thus, along with flatlining prices, all in all, we can only report that the evening was a bit of a cleanout for all concerned.
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Like ‘Brown’ furniture. Their prices have now peaked… !!
A bit of a harsh assesessment. 73% of all the lots on offer sold and the sale grossed £16.6 million. That’s not a bad nights work and the London sale has certainly grossed less than that in previous sales suring the 9 years it’s been running. Don’t forget the 12% buyers premium on all the lots – the buyer of the 250 TdF has actually written a cheque for £4,760,000.
What a washout!!!!!!!!
Arthur Daley would turn in his grave at those prices! BTW who is that chap with the ridiculous Waitrose shopping bag, stood by the white Roller? Is he one of those who rush up at traffic lights and, unasked, squeegee your windscreen? I think we should be told!