LONDON.- Opening Classic Week at Christie's London in style, Old Masters Evening Sale and The Exceptional Sale realised a combined total of £60,844,240 / $83,660,830 / €70,944,384, selling 116% over the low estimate. Much anticipated, the top lot of the evening was Canaletto's masterpiece Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day, previously in the collection of Britain's first Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, which realised £31,935,000 / $43,910,625 / €37,236,210, sparking applause in the saleroom and setting a new world auction record for the artist.

OLD MASTERS EVENING SALE IN SUMMARY:

The Old Masters Evening Sale realised £55,263,680 / $ 75,987,560 / €64,437,451, selling 87% by lot and 99% by value. In addition to the Canaletto, further highlights include:

Jan Davidsz. De Heem's luxurious and immaculately preserved still life, which presented a feast for the eyes that looks 'good-enough to eat' 350 years after it was painted, sold for £3,670,000 / $5,046,250 / €4,279,220.

Titian's Portrait of a nobleman, seated before a window, sold for £3,428,000 / $4,713,500 / €3,997,048. Titian was arguably the greatest portrait painter of the sixteenth century and unquestionably the most influential.

Maja Markovic, Head of Old Masters Evening Sale, London: “This evening represents a landmark for Christie's London, achieving the highest sell-through rate by value in the history of our Old Master sales (99%), and the strongest sell-through rate by lot since 2012 (87%). The result of the Canaletto, which surpassed a record that stood for over two decades by more than £13 million, is a testament to the painting's exceptional quality and enduring appeal. It is the second highest price achieved for an Old Master at Christie's London, surpassed only by Rubens' Lot and His Daughters in 2016. This sale reaffirms the market's confidence in well-priced works of rarity, importance and excellence that continue to captivate and inspire.”

THE EXCEPTIONAL SALE IN SUMMARY:

Christie's Exceptional Sale realised a total of £5,580,560 / $7,673,270 / €6,506,933. Among the highlights of the sale:

Flying victorious, A Union Jack Flown from HMS Spartiate at The Battle of Trafalgar, with shards of metal embedded in the fabric and fragments of wood splinters, sold for £1,068,500 / $1,469,188 / €1,245,871, having sparked a bidding battle between Christie's LiveTM and a telephone bidder.

A late Louis XVI ormolu-mounted carved lapis lazuli tazza, believed to be among works of art brought back from Russia by Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton when he served as the British Ambassador to Russia in St Petersburg in 1807, sold for £592,200.

Thomas Williams, Head of The Exceptional Sale, London: “This sale saw strong prices achieved for masterpieces of decorative arts and objects of historic importance, across categories and periods. We were thrilled to see the battle-scarred Union Jack, flown from HMS Spartiate at the Battle of Trafalgar, sail beyond its high estimate in a keenly fought bidding contest, between phone and online bidders.”