Auctions are full of “style of….” or “circle of….” and plenty of, “after….”….

But have you ever wondered, how many of those might just be real?! How many have been overlooked or simply dismissed by auctioneers as being copies when infact they are authentic?

Well, plenty of bidders at Schuler’s auction in Zurich on the 28th June certainly were prepared to put their money where their hunch was…and saw a “style of Sandro Botticelli” become the real thing.

The painting had been estimated by the auctioneers at Sfr5000-7000 and catalogued as “in the style of Sandro Botticelli c.1445-1510). After an intensive bidding battle and ten minutes of tennis style back and forth bidding - it was knocked down for the staggering price of Sfr6.4m (or £5.16 million pounds). Thats 914 times the top estimate!

Imagine the vendors phone call that evening….”Er…yes, hello, I am hoping you can help me…. I had a painting in todays auction and I’m just phoning to see how it did….”. ….

The portrait of a young man had been previously in a Swiss private collection since 1924. The auction room was packed on the day, with multiple bidders from worldwide - along with 13 telephone lines booked for the lot.

Staggering result - beautiful painting - and well done to the bidders who correctly were prepared to put their money behind their opinions.