With 75,678 lots offered and 37,983 total bidders, it is safe to say that Sotheby’s Auction House had a stellar year in 2023. From art by Picasso to items owned by Freddie Mercury and Princess Diana to sports and modern collectibles, there truly was something for every collector. Find out what item was the biggest surprise of the year and get a sneak peek at what’s to come in 2024.
Lot of the Year
A lot is an individual object, or a group of objects that are offered as a single unit for sale at auction. The Sotheby’s lot of the year belongs to a work of art by Pablo Picasso, Femme a la montre. The painting had been with the same owner since 1968 before heading to auction. Painted in 1932, this piece sold at auction for an astounding $139.4 million.
Biggest Surprise
Freddie Mercury’s Tiffany & Co. silver mustache comb sold for 152,400 GBP. The low estimate for this item was 400 GBP, meaning the item sold for 381x the low estimate. While this was the smallest item offered in the lot, let’s face it, the comb was used to groom one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most iconic moustaches, making it a fascinating item in our opinion, especially for music aficionados.
Sotheby’s achieved full ‘white glove’ sales, meaning every item in the lot sold, and almost 99% selling above their high estimate. Other highlights included a grand piano Mercury used to pen Bohemian Rhapsody and other chart-topping hits, a Cartier brooch, decorative Victorian clock, and several items of clothing.
One Black Sheep
Another surprise hit of 2023 was the sale of Princess Diana’s iconic Warm and Wonderful Sheep Jumper(sweater). This lot was estimated at $50,000 – $80,000 and ultimately sold for an exciting $1,143,000. It was a well-known sweater as Diana Spencer wore it in 1981 to watch Prince Charles play in a polo match. The sweater had been damaged, and the lot also included two official letters from Buckingham Palace written in 1981 explaining the jumper had been damaged and requesting either a replacement or repair.
Warm and Wonderful sent Spencer a replacement sweater which she wore in 1983 to another polo match. The sweaters were not identical, with the black sheep showing up in a different place on each sweater. The location of the second sweater is a mystery, but to the lucky final bidder of the original Princess Diana sweater, bravo!
The top ten most expensive Hermès bags sold at auction in 2023 were exclusively made up of the iconic Birkin and Kelly bags. A mix of newer limited-edition models as well as a few rare vintage finds made up the mix. All but one of the most expensive bags were sold in Hong Kong. The top sale went to a Birkin 20 Faubourg Neige Sellier Matte Alligator Palladium Hardware for $280,670. The Neige or Snow Faubourg was released in 2021 and is the only bag in the Birkin 20 Faubourg collection with a matte alligator body.
This was followed by the #2 sale a Kelly 32 Feather So Black which sold for $264,160. The So Black collection was designed by French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. Introduced in 2010, the So Black collection was in Gaultier’s final Hermès runway show. The feathers on the bag were handpicked and attached to the Kelly one at a time.
Classic Cars
As the number one classic car auction house in the world, it’s not surprising that RM Sotheby’s had a phenomenal year. In November an auction was held for a 1962 Ferrari GTO being publicly offered for the first time in 38 years. The car ended up achieving the second-highest price for a car at auction, selling for $51.7 million.
1962 Ferrari 330 LM / 250 GTO by Scaglietti Jeremy Cliff ©2023 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Also in November, RM Sotheby’s held the official auction of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton’s first Mercedes-winning car sold for $18,815,000. The 2013 Mercedes- AMG Petronas F1 W04 car became the most valuable Formula 1 car of the modern era ever sold.
Sports and Modern Collectibles
In 2023, Sotheby’s started a partnership with the NBA to bring game-worn memorabilia straight from the court to the auction house. In addition, a pair of Michael Jordan’s from the legendary 1998 NBA Finals ‘The Last Dance’ game worn and signed Air Jordan XIIIs from Game Two of the series, sold for $2,283,000. This is the highest sale price ever achieved for any shoes.
The year wrapped up with the sale of six Lionel Messi World Cup 2022 game-worn jerseys for $7,800,000, making them the highest price paid for an item of sports memorabilia in 2023. Each of the shirts was worn during the first half of one of Argentina’s games at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
In 2024, Sotheby’s will host the very best in fine art auctions in New York, London, Paris, Milan, and Hong Kong. Visions of America takes place in January in New York – a celebration of craftmanship and culture with auctions, events, and experiences. At the end of the month, Masters Week will be held in New York with a marquee sale, Master Paintings & Sculpture Part 1. Recurring luxury sales of jewelry, watches, handbags, wine, and more will continue online and at auction. RM Sotheby’s will welcome a new auction in Miami during ModaMiami weekend as well as auctions in Paris, Arizona, Dubai, Monaco and more.