This October, Bellmans held its usual week of auctions from the 11th to 14th October 2022 achieving outstanding results. Top lot of the week was a Sino Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Tara on a stand.

The female Bodhisattva seated in lalitasana on a double lotus base, her hands held in vitarka mudra, is 16cm high, while the overall size is 32cm and was estimated at £600 - £1,000, catalogued as a 19th Century bronze. The auction room was buzzing with telephone bids and the hammer finally went down at £95,000 (£120,080 incl. buyer's premium and VAT) going to a bidder in Asia. The Tara had been found at the bottom of a chest with other Asian art lots, although mainly of little value. It was part of several lots from a client's house, who had inherited the chest. A printed paper label to the interior of the Tara read: "Buddha. Old gold bronze, inlaid with stone. From Viceroy Lock.12 1/2 inches".

The week started with a Fine Books and Manuscripts auction, which did particularly well. The majority of the 25 lots included in the sale came from one outstanding Scottish collection with all bar one selling during the auction. The top four lots alone made £188,000 hammer (£237,632 including buyer's premium and VAT). The relatively small but select sale included an important illuminated manuscript on vellum of a Bible in Latin, most likely from a Parisian workshop in the 13th- or early 14th-century. It was expected to sell for £20,000 - £30,000, but fierce bidding on the phones and internet with bidders occasionally trying to speed up the bidding by suggesting higher increments, meant that the hammer came down at £86,000 (£107,156 including buyer's premium and VAT). It went to European trade in the end.

The Old Master, British & European Paintings auction following straight afterwards saw 90% of the auction sold with most lots achieving prices above expectations and with £229,000 hammer (£289,45 incl. buyer's premium and VAT) and it is one of the best totals of a Bellmans picture auction in recent years.

Top lot of the auction were two oval portraits of Colonel Arent DePeyster (1736-1822) and his wife Rebecca DePeyster (nee Blair, died 1827).

The portraits had been found by Bellmans in a cupboard in a house clearance in South London and catalogued as late 18th/early 19th Century English School with an estimate of £150 - £250. While DePeyster, the American born British colonial military officer best known for his term as commandant of the British controlled Fort Michilimackinac and Fort Detroit during the American Revolution, has been largely forgotten in the UK, he clearly still has his place in the US. Strong bidding between two US bidders meant that the relatively conservative commission bids were soon out and the bidding continued online and on the phone, the online bidder finally succeeded when the hammer came down at £38,000 (£48,032).

Just over a month short of the 200th anniversary of Arent DePeyster's death, Bellmans is thrilled to hear that the portraits will return to the US, where following the capture of Lieutenant-Governor General Henry Hamilton, DePeyster is often credited as being the military leader of the British and Native American forces in the Western American and Canadian frontiers. The DePeysters actually moved to Dumfries after he retired in 1794, but when the United Kingdom was threatened by Napoleon, he became actively involved with the militia again, which included the prominent Scottish poet Robert Burns, who dedicated his poem on "Life" to him.

The portraits were purchased by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, an agency of the State of Michigan, for their permanent museum collection. They operate several historic sites at the Straits of Mackinac, including a reconstruction of Fort Michilimackinac where Arent Schuyler DePeyster served as commandant from 1774 to 1779. Based on the style of his uniform, the portraits date to ca. 1790. Steven C. Brisson, the director of the agency said: "We have been aware of the existence of these portraits for many years and have used black and white copies, provided by the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland, in several publications and exhibits. We are extremely pleased to acquire the originals. We also have in our collection a stunning silver punch bowl, made by Smith & Sharp of London, that was presented to DePeyster by the traders at Fort Michilimackinac in 1779."

Julian Dineen, head of pictures at Bellmans, said: "We were delighted with the sale which included some outstanding results, with competitive bidding coming from across the UK, Europe and further afield. We look forward to following this up with what is sure to be a fantastic Modern British and 20th Century Art Sale on 15th November."

www.bellmans.co.uk Bellmans is holding auctions in 2022 on 15-18 November and 8 December.