Bloomberg‘s Katya Kazakina covers the Russian sales which were hampered by cancelled flights from Moscow:

Sotheby’s focused on fine art and Faberge, offering about 280 lots and fetching $5.5 million, including commission; 30 percent of the lots failed to sell, and many barely squeezed past their low estimates, yet the results were within Sotheby’s presale estimate of $4.2 million to $6 million. About 30 people total were present in the hushed, half-empty auction room.

“It’s the double whammy of the economic crisis and the volcano,” said Nikolai Bachmakov, a New York-based Faberge expert. “Many dealers and collectors couldn’t get here in time. And people are holding on to their money tighter than before.”

The auction included 55 lots from the estate of New York collector Frances H. Jones, which have been off the market for almost 40 years and generated active bidding. That was the most successful part of the sale, generating $1.8 million, well over the high estimate of $1.2 million.

Russian Bidders See Bargains As Volcano Dampens Auction (Bloomberg)