A portrait of the Duke of Wellington has been sold for a record-breaking £9.67 million during an auction in London.
The sale set a new benchmark for works by renowned British portrait artist, Thomas Lawrence.
The painting depicts Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, and was completed by Lawrence following Wellington’s victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The artwork was a personal favourite of the duke, who later served two terms as British prime minister and presented prints of the portrait to friends. Before the auction, it had been valued at between £8 million and £12 million and was offered as part of Christie’s sale.
Maja Markovic, head of the Old Masters Evening Sale, which opened the auction house’s Classic Week, said the result reflected the “storied provenance and historical importance” of the portrait.
The evening auction generated total sales exceeding £50.7 million, with several notable works attracting strong bids.
Among the highlights was an Egyptian limestone statue that realised £3.7 million. A sketch by Peter Paul Rubens depicting Aeneas helping Dido from her horse sold for £2.7 million, while two paintings by Jan van Huysum achieved £6.5 million for Fruit and Flowers in a Wicker Basket and £5.5 million for Flowers in a Terracotta Vase.
Elsewhere, a first edition of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, sold alongside a copy of Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey, fetched £1.2 million during the Masterworks Across Cultures auction.
A cigar humidor presented to Winston Churchill by former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt also exceeded expectations, selling for £330,200—eight times higher than its top pre-sale estimate.
