TATTERSALLS’ decision to revert the Somerville Sale to a one-day format reaped dividends on Tuesday, as a 42% slimmer catalogue produced a clearance rate of 89% and a record average price of 34,254gns.

Ten six-figure sales were another career-best in the sale’s five-year history, the previous high being seven, while three reached the 100,000gns mark last year. The median price of 25,000gns marked a 14% increase from last year.