LONDON.- Almost 3,000 members of the public flocked to Sotheby’s over the course of the pre-sale exhibition for Made in Britain, a dedicated sale celebrating the diversity and creativity of British art from 1900 to today. Sotheby’s saw strong prices achieved in both the day and evening sale sessions for works by some of the leading names of post-war British Art. The sale included the evening auction of property from legendary London restaurant The Ivy, where bidders in a packed saleroom competed to acquire a piece of history from the world renowned restaurant. Every single lot sold - a ‘white glove’ sale - and 97% of lots soared above pre-sale estimates.

Made in Britain achieved an above-high-estimate total of £3,377,068 (est. £1,495,200 - 2,205,790), and the total achieved for The Ivy auction to benefit Child Bereavement UK was £1,051,125, almost three times the pre-sale high estimate (est. £249,950 – 380,240). Attracting more than 850 participants from 34 countries spread across four continents, as many as 37% of participants in the Made in Britain auction were first-time buyers at Sotheby’s, drawn to the diverse offering of artistic media ranging from £80 – 180,000 by some of Britains greatest artists, and the highly sought-after items from The Ivy, which is currently undergoing renovation prior to its reopening in May 2015.

Richard Caring commented: “The Ivy is an iconic restaurant with 98 years of history and I’m so pleased that supporting Child Bereavement UK - a fantastic charity that does amazing work - is part of its history. We are delighted to have been able to support them."

Julia Samuel, Trustee and Founder Patron of Child Bereavement UK, said: "All of us at Child Bereavement UK are absolutely delighted and hugely grateful for the transformational donation that tonight’s auction at Sotheby’s has enabled, which will have a profound impact on the lives of bereaved families throughout the UK. I would particularly like to acknowledge Richard and Jackie Caring’s extraordinary philanthropic support."

Fernando Peire, Director of The Ivy commented: “I am thrilled that through The Ivy's sale of art and artefacts we were able to raise such a significant sum to benefit Child Bereavement UK. On the brink of the restaurant’s centenary, the extraordinary interest raised by the Sotheby's auction underscores the public's enormous affection for The Ivy and its Private Dining Room. We very much hope that the items sold tonight will become talking points in the homes for which they are destined - for at least another hundred years.”

AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ICONIC IVY FURNITURE AND TABLEWARE INCLUDE:
• The Legendary Oak Front Doors to The Ivy Soared To £27,500 (est. £800 – 1,200)

• Top Lot of the Night, Bridget Riley’s The Ivy Painting Achieved £413,000 (est. £120,000 – 180,000)

• Raising The Bar: The Ivy’s Private Dining Room Bar Sold for 30 Times Pre-sale Estimate and Fetched £31,250 (est. £1,000 – 1,500)

• Top Table - Table Six’s Place Settings - Achieved £6,875 (est. £1,000- 1,500)

• Ten Ivy Napkins sell for £2,750 (est. £60 – 80)

• Iconic Ivy window pane Shattered Pre-Sale Estimate and Sold For £31,250 (est. £100 -150)

• A pair of Champagne buckets by Future Systems soar to £7,500 (est. £100 – 150)

• The cloakroom tip tray from the 1920s sells for £875 (est. £80-120)

• Cocktail Shakers used to mix drinks for the great and good achieve £1,375 (est. £80 – 120)

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ARTWORKS THAT ADORNED THE IVY’S WALLS
• The highest price for a work displayed in the restaurant was for Bridget Riley’s The Ivy Painting which sold for £413,000 (est. £120,000 – 180,000)

• Howard Hodgkin’s Ivy painting sold, to a round of applause, for £106,250 (est. £6,000 – 8,000) – A RECORD PRICE FOR A WORK ON PAPER BY THE ARTIST

• Maggi Hambling’s painting George Always I soared above estimate and sold for £23,125 (est. £4,000 – 6,000) – AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST

• Mural for The Ivy by Allen Jones doubled high estimate and sells for £137,000 (est. £40,000 – 60,000)

• Sebastian Horsley’s Flowers of Evil Triptych sold for £13,750 (est. £1,500-2,500) – RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST

• David Bailey, Jeremy and Chris sold for £25,000 (est. £1,000-2,000) – RECORD PRICE FOR A PAINTING BY THE ARTIST

MADE IN BRITAIN
The top lot of Made in Britain’s day sale was Sir Terry Frost’s Sonnet to Black, which soared to £173,000 (est. £70,000-100,000), followed by Meme XLII by Anthony Gormley which more than doubled its pre-sale high estimate to make £112,500 (est. £30,000-50,000). The sale results demonstrate the demand and strength of the market for British artists of the last century across the mediums of painting, sculpture, prints, photography, ceramics and furniture:

White Glove for British Ceramics
Leading names of the British Studio Ceramic movement commanded strong prices, with every one of the ceramics sold, by artists including Bernard Leach whose A Floral Patterned Vase fetched £1,625 (est .£800-1,200), Lucie Rie whose An Impressive Fluted Bowl (pictured left) fetched £23,750 (est. £512,000 – 18,000), Hans Coper whose An Impressive Early Vase fetched £20,000 (est. £10,000 – 15,000) and Shoji Hamada whose Flask sold for £3,625 (est. £1,000 – 1,500).

Strong prices for Grosvenor School Prints and Richard Hamilton
A selection of prints made by the Grosvenor School, a group of artists founded in Pimlico in 1925, performed well. Counting Claude Flight, Cyril Edward Power, Sybil Andrews and Lill Tschudi among its members, these artists celebrated the energy of contemporary life in the inter-war years, and the linocuts they produced constitute one of the great achievements in twentieth-century British art. Power’s Whence & Whither?, an iconic image of London’s underground from the early 1930s, sold for £68,750. Representing the British Pop generation, Richard Hamilton’s 1972 screenprint Release, one of the artist’s most recognised artworks, brought £37,500, exceeding its estimate of £18,000-22,000.

Record prices for Photographs
Two living stalwarts of British photography, Neil Libbert and Grace Robertson, commanded auction record prices with, respectively, a 1989 silver print of Francis Bacon on his 80th birthday ( pictured left, sold for £4,750, est. £700 – 1,000), and a 1948 image of Frustration, Petticoat Lane, London (sold for £2,000, est. £600 - 800).

Demand for British Minimal Artists
The sale saw a renewed interest in pioneering British Minimal painters of the 60s and 70s, with strong prices achieved for arists including Peter Stroud, whose Two at the Centre sold for £6,875 (pictured left, est. £2,000-3,000) and Alan Green.

Artist Records
• Lot 36 – Neil Libbert, Francis Bacon, on his 80th birthday, 1989, £4,750 (est. £700-1,000)

• Lot 149 – Grace Robertson, Frustration, Petticoat Lane, London, 1948, £2,000 (est. £600-800)

• Lot 176 – Bryan Kneale, Carrick 1981, £5,250 (est. £1,500-2,000)

• Lot 193 – Jacob Bornfriend, Still Life, £21,250 (est. £1,000-1,500)

• Lot 206 – Janet Leach, An Impressive Vase, £2,750 (est. £500-700)

• Lot 249 – Peter Stroud, Two at the Centre, £6,875 (est. £2,000-3,000)

• Lot 266 – Alan Peters, Low Table, 1990, £7,500 (est. £600-800)

• Lot 298 – Mo McDermott, Trees, £2,625 (est. £800-1,100)