The year 2024 ended in style at the Pousse-Cornet auction house with a Chinese vase from the Jiaqing period (1760-1820) estimated between €60,000 and €80,000, finally sold under the hammer for €155,000 (180,800 € with costs). During the same day of December 7, a violin by luthier Jacques-Pierre Thibout made in 1832 went for €22,500, again well above the initial estimate of €16,000.
Up 5% in a bear market
At the end of this last sale, Guillaume Cornet displays a big smile. In a delicate general context, it once again recorded excellent annual results. Total sales revenue stands at 10.757 million euros, up 5% compared to 2023. “Stability prevails”, indicates the auctioneer.
But stability at the highest levels since it remained over three years with double-digit growth. “The auction market fell by 20%, he specifies. Contemporary art, which had risen significantly, and modern furniture suffered in particular. If we are going against the grain, it is because we are not positioned in the very speculative contemporary art market. »
Even if the increase in sales is modest when we compare it to 2023 (+ 14%) and especially to 2022 (+ 30%), he does not dare to be choosy. Staying the course in a downturn is already a success.
A sale at €360,000
The best sale, which took place in September, concerned a still study with goldsmith pieces by Alexandre-François Desportes (1661-1743). Coming, as is often the case, from a property in Sologne where it slept carefully packed in a box, the work was known to specialists who, however, had lost track of it. Suffice to say that its rediscovery has aroused a lot of interest. The auction therefore logically quickly exceeded the initial estimate of €130,000, with the buyer having to offer the tidy sum of €360,000 to be authorized to take possession.
Auctions soared throughout the year: €147,600 for a solitaire ring in white gold, €36,000 for a witch mirror signed Line Vautrin (1913-1997), €31,800 for a dining room table made by the artisans of Marolles, or even €27,600 for a man’s head sculpted in high relief dating from the 3e century.
Sales of great wines also caused the figures to panic. Like this bottle of Romanée-Conti 1998 which sold for €29,401. Without forgetting all the less spectacular auctions which always attract people to the auction house. In the end, the year 2024 remains undeniably a good year for Maison Pousse-Cornet. A trend to be confirmed in 2025.
