# Reading an Auction Estimate > The estimate is the only part of a catalogue the house has to defend in the room. It also excludes the premium, which is why results are routinely reported as beating it. > The Study - 2026-08-02 > Canonical HTML: https://iconotheca.com/study/reading-an-auction-estimate/ ## Key points - The reserve is confidential but cannot exceed the low estimate, which makes the low estimate an informative soft floor. - Estimates exclude the buyer's premium while published results include it, so the two are not directly comparable. - The Cimabue panel carried a EUR 4 to 6 million estimate and hammered at EUR 19.5 million against seven registered bidders. - A Maine house estimated the Camden portrait at USD 10,000 to 15,000 and it hammered at USD 1,175,000. ## What the numbers are, and what sits behind them ## What the spread tells you ## When a result beats an estimate, and when it only appears to ## The estimate as a record of what was known on the day ## The estimate is where the department's real opinion lives ## Bought in, and what a failure records Read the estimate before the essay. The prose is written to sell and costs nothing when it overstates; the estimate is written to be defended in a room within weeks, and it stays on the record whether it holds or fails. It is also the one number in a catalogue that measures research directly. A panel estimated at four to six million euros after the attribution work made nineteen and a half at the hammer, and a portrait estimated at ten thousand dollars made more than a hundred times that. Those gaps are the price of knowledge, quoted in public. ## Questions **Is the reserve public?** No. It is confidential between the house and the consignor. It cannot exceed the low estimate, which constrains it usefully: whatever the reserve is, it sits at or below the published low figure, so the low estimate functions as a soft floor for the lot. **Do estimates include the buyer's premium?** No. The premium is defined as a percentage added to the hammer price, so estimates are quoted on an ex-premium basis while published results are quoted inclusive of premium. Comparing a reported result to an estimate without adjusting for this overstates the outcome. **What does 'estimate on request' mean?** That the house expects a figure large enough that publishing it would deter bidders or embarrass the seller if unmet. It is a consignment-negotiation device and tells a reader about the terms agreed with the seller rather than about the object. **What does 'bought in' mean?** The lot failed to reach its reserve and did not sell; it remains the consignor's property. The unmet estimate stays on the public record, which is why unsold lots are usually rested before being reoffered. ## Sources - [1] Sotheby's, 'What is a buyer's premium?', defining the premium as an addition to the hammer price of each lot. - [2] Sotheby's, lot page for The Rising Squall, Old Master and 19th Century Paintings Evening Auction L25033, 2 July 2025, giving the GBP 200,000 to 300,000 estimate and the note that published results are premium-inclusive. - [3] Anna Brady, 'Kitchen Cimabue sells for 24.1m euros', The Art Newspaper, 27 October 2019, giving the EUR 4m to 6m estimate, the EUR 19.5m hammer, seven registered bidders and Philomene Wolf's account of the house clearance. - [4] Archaeology Wiki, reporting the Cimabue panel at EUR 24,180,000 expenses included. - [5] The Art Newspaper, 'Sotheby's $51.8m Saunders collection falls short, but still breaks Old Masters record', 21 May 2025, on the Frans Post hammer meeting the low estimate. - [6] Anna Brady, 'Turner painting bought last year for 500 pounds sells for almost 2m pounds at Sotheby's', The Art Newspaper, 4 July 2025. - [7] Daily Art News, on the Camden, Maine portrait catalogued as after Rembrandt with an estimate of USD 10,000 to 15,000. - [8] Bangor Daily News, giving the Camden portrait's hammer price of USD 1.175 million. - [9] Christie's, Conditions of Sale, New York, 19 October 2023, clause 2, restricting the authenticity warranty to the unqualified Heading.