Record-Breaking Sale at Christie's
A portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence has sold for £9.67 million at auction in London, setting a new record for the artist. The painting depicts Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, and was created following his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The portrait, which was a favorite of the duke—who also served two terms as prime minister—was given as prints to friends. It had been estimated to fetch between £8 million and £12 million before the sale at Christie’s.
Historic Significance and Market Response
Maja Markovic, head of the Old Masters Evening Sale, which launched Christie’s Classic Week, highlighted the “storied provenance and historical importance” of the portrait. The evening sale generated combined revenues of over £50.7 million.
Other notable items included an Egyptian limestone statue that sold for £3.7 million, a Peter Paul Rubens sketch of Aeneas helping Dido from her horse (£2.7 million), and two works by Jan van Huysum: fruit and flowers in a wicker basket (£6.5 million) and flowers in a terracotta vase (£5.5 million).
Literary and Historical Memorabilia
A first edition of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, along with a copy of Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë, sold for £1.2 million as part of a Masterworks Across Cultures auction. Additionally, a cigar humidor given to Winston Churchill by former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt fetched £330,200—eight times its highest pre-sale estimate.
