The combined total for the two sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s respectively was £6.88m.
With both houses in competition for publicity as well as consignments, it was no coincidence that these two media-friendly auctions celebrating Hollywood stars were staged only a day apart.
First up was Sotheby’s sale of 321 lots from the estate of Vivien Leigh on September 26 sale that raised £2.24m with premium.
The following day, Christie’s generated £4.64m from 246 lots from the Audrey Hepburn collection. The latter was led by the actress’s working script for Breakfast at Tiffany’s which soared over its £60,000-90,000 estimate and fetched £632,750 (including premium), setting an auction record for a film script in the process.
With bidders clearly prepared to compete well beyond Christie’s guides, the sale lasted for 10 hours and the auctioneers reported bidders from 46 countries and the highest online participation for any Christie’s sale to date.
Vivien Leigh sale
Sotheby’s meanwhile had a packed saleroom for the Vivien Leigh sale and said that “collectors turned out in their droves” to bid on the day. The top lot was a still life of roses painted by Sir Winston Churchill in the 1930s that he later gave to Leigh as a present shortly after she visited his country home of Chartwell in August 1951.
Estimated at £70,000-100,000, it sold at £638,750.
Further highlights from the sale appear below.
