From 300 Euro to 137 thousand Pounds in 6 months time

In June 2015, I posted a short note about a damaged "German School, 16th century" painting sold in France with an estimate of just 300 Euro. I didn't post it before the auction because I knew someone who was following the auction and tried to buy it, but eventually lost to another bidder when the painting sold for 6,000 Euro instead.

We thought it was by Herri met de Bles, or at least by someone of his close circle.

I missed it the second time round, but still think it is worthwhile to point it out now. In the December 2015 Old Master sale at Sotheby's, the same painting reappeared, cleaned and heavily restored (and with some seemingly incomplete provenance, lacking the sale of earlier the same year). It was indeed said to be by Herri met de Bles, and estimated at £80,000 to £120,000. It eventually sold for £137,000!

While the condition report by Sotheby's mentions the restorations, it doesn't indicate that these were very, very recent, which seems a significant omission (coupled with the omission of the June 2015 auction). No idea if the current owner was pleased or will be pleased when he finds out about this.

Nice to know that we were right, too bad that my fellow art spotter didn't win it though, as that is one heck of a profit to make in six months (even counting the restoration costs).