LONDON, ENGLAND.-The collection of one of world’s greatest engineers made a staggering £1,991,509 at Sotheby’s in London, more than doubling its pre-sale estimate and rousing collectors to extraordinary levels of bidding.
The collection - which included the property of Watt, his forbears and descendants - comprised a wide and evocative range of items, providing a rare and fascinating insight into the careers and achievements of this extraordinary family. Scientific instruments, books, paintings, furniture, sculpture, works of art and ceramics were all represented, and all commanded prices reflecting the importance and relevance of their provenance.
Speaking after the sale, James Miller, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said: “This is an extraordinary result for what was without doubt an extraordinary collection. James Watt’s name is familiar to us all as the unit for electrical power and, of course, his is the name on every light bulb. As the man who developed the steam engine, Watt stood right at centre of the industrial revolution. He was also actively engaged in all the major developments of his time – scientific, political and philosophical. Every object in the sale was loaded with significance, relating to many and varied aspects of Watt’s life. It was the combination of this fabulous provenance with, in many cases, the extreme rarity of the items on offer, that lead to the exceptional results we saw today – of the 567 lots offered, only 28 failed to find a buyer.”
The sale opened to a packed room, and the enthusiasm of those attending – both in person and on the phones – was quickly evident as lot after lot achieved a handsome multiple of its original estimate. With the first two lots achieving seven times their pre-sale estimates, the pace was soon set and expectations were running high for lot 5, an account of the “kettle incident” by Watt’s cousin, Jane Campbell. The letter reveals a key moment in Watt’s youth when, aged only 15, he sat playing with the steam emerging from a kettle. It sold, together with a number of others, for £15,600 against an estimate of £6,000-£8,000.
The two top lots of the sale were a portrait of Watt by William Beechey, which made the extraordinary sum of £153,440 against an estimate of £40,000-£60,000 – the second highest price ever made for a work by the artist, and the highest price for a portrait by Beechey. Beechey’s portrait of Matthew Boulton, Watt’s business partner at the Soho works in Birmingham, also exceeded expectations, making £100,800 (est. £40,000-£60,000) Other representations of Watt also performed well, with a marble bust of the by Sir Francis Legatt Chantry making £92,960 (est. £20,000-£30,000).
There was strong demand for the scientific instruments: Watt’s brass “Brewster Kaleidoscope” (made by R.B. Bate while still under patent) made £27,600, while a rare portable pressure copying machine from the 1790s sold for £26,400. (The machine was first developed by Watt as a reaction to his frustration at having to hand-copy business documents and correspondence.) Two of Watt’s children suffered from consumption and, accordingly, Watt had a strong interest in medicine. His apothecary cabinet, estimated at £400-£600, made £12,000, and a model 19th-century oscillating steam engine made £7,200.
Watt’s library performed particularly well. Rich in inscribed and annotated scientific works it provided a rare opportunity to acquire seminal works from one of the most important 18th century scientific libraries to come to auction in living memory. Offered individually, 17 volumes of bound pamphlets – each one containing large numbers of early works by figures such as Joseph Priestley, Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, James Hutton and Watt himself – made in excess of £127,000. One volume in particular, a bound volume containing, inter alia, James Hutton’s geological Description of the Earth, sold for £24,000. Among the books, a new auction record was set for a copy Erasmus Darwin’s Zoonomia (1794-1796) when it made £6,000 against an estimate of £400-£600.
Among the manuscripts, an autograph work by Watt on a new system for chemical characters – one of the earliest reactions to the new chemical nomenclature of 1787 – made £30,000.
Items of Scottish interest performed particularly well: Robert Adam’s design for the dome of the Register office in Edinburgh made £43,200; while a fine George III silver soup tureen presented to Watt by the Glasgow Waterworks made £27,600.
Watt’s son, James Watt junior, was a great patron of the arts, commissioning furniture for Aston Hall in Birmingham from designer and furniture maker Richard Bridgens. Many of Bridgens’ original designs were included in the sale, and all performed well, with a group of nine drawings (designs for the Great Library) reaching £10,800. Similarly, an Elizabethan style print cabinet made by Bridgens for the Great Library at Aston (lot 334) made £10,800; a pair of coal purdonia, believed to be after Bridgens’ design, made £20,400; and a carved oak night table by Bridgens (lot 340) made £15,600.
Keen to take home a momento of Watt’s life, collectors fought to acquire a number of his personal possessions including his spectacles (lot 148, £8,400), his walking stick (lot 46, £840) and his watches (lots 46 and 47, £7,800 and £7,200 respectively).
The Gibson-Watt family said: “We are delighted with the result, which surpasses all expectations and is a great tribute to James Watt’s achievements and reputation.”