The two events totalled £22.64m hammer and the best pieces set numerous new auction benchmarks.
Perhaps the most notable sign of how traditional quality still holds sway was that the evening auction broke the £1.6m record for British furniture, set in the same rooms back in 1993 for the Anglesey Desk, on no fewer than four occasions.
It culminated in a new high of £2.4m (plus premium) for the George II parcel-gilt padouk cabinet-on-stand attributed to Thomas Chippendale, pictured here.
The chinoiserie fantasy, which is thought to have been made c.1755-60 for Sir Roger Palmer and was at Kenure Park Co Dublin until 1964, is of similar design to a bookcase at Dumfries House, a major Chippendale commission.
The cabinet was knocked down in the room to art advisor Christopher Payne against a telephone bidder. The price was just under the lower end of its £2.5m-4m estimate.
By Anne Crane
