Among one of the main highlights at Bonhams was Nikolai Fechin's "Portrait of a Young Girl with an Apple", which was once acquired directly from the artist, who made a successful career in Russia and America, the latter in which he made a name for himself as one of the finest portraitists.

"The Morning Catch" by Aivazovsky (image from bonhams.com)

Fechin’s work went under the hammer for $277,000, more than twice as much as expected.

Meanwhile, another record has also been set at the Sotheby’s London auction featuring a selection of objects, which once belonged to the Romanov royal family.

Around 100 lots of cigarette boxes, cufflinks, Faberge items, Imperial inscriptions and coats of arms – as well as personal photographs of the family – were expected to fetch over $1.5 million. In fact, the Sotheby’s London sale has fetched over $11 million.

With every lot sold, the auction has achieved the coveted status of a “White Glove Sale”.

The top-selling lot was the 25th Wedding Anniversary Faberge Imperial jeweled four-color gold cigarette case which went under the hammer for… $1,009,501 – over twelve times its highest estimate. It has also set a new auction record for a Faberge cigarette case.

A Fabergé Imperial jewelled four-colour gold cigarette case (image from sothebys.com)

According to Sotheby’s experts, the long-awaited opportunity to acquire a piece of Russian Imperial antiquity sparked interest in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.

Sotheby’s Olga Vaigatcheva and Darin Bloomquist explained the extraordinary results of this evening’s sale, which proved record-breaking in many ways, were “tributes to the exquisite quality, outstanding provenance and romantic story behind this remarkable collection, which had been lost to posterity for almost 90 years until its rediscovery in Sweden earlier this year.”

The rare pieces are associated with Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and her late husband His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, the son of Emperor Alexander II and brother of Emperor Alexander III.

Back in 1918, when Sweden broke off diplomatic relations with the Russian revolutionary government, the collection was deposited at the Swedish Legation. Its existence was unknown for 91 years.