The appeal of this 16in (40.5cm) tall French silvered bronze of a ballerina, right, offered at Wotton Auction Rooms (21% buyer’s premium) on May 23, undoubtedly owed much of its success to its provenance.
Catalogued as after Jean-Auguste Barre, the sculpture was titled Marie Taglioni and signed and dated 1837.
Key selling point was that it came from the estate of the English prima ballerina Dame Alicia Markova, who died aged 94 in 2004.