A sale of work by Irish artists, including Sir John Lavery, Sir William Orpen and Louis le Brocquy, has fetched a total of £6.1 million (€9 million), making it the second-most successful Sotheby's annual Irish Art Sale in the event's 12-year history.
The top lot in the London sale, a painting by the late Belfast-born artist Sir John Lavery, sold to an Irish buyer for £748,000 - much higher than the initial estimate of £300,000 to £500,000.
The oil-on-canvas portrait of Lady Evelyn Farquhar, the daughter of the fifth Earl of Donoughmore, a Home Rule supporter and wealthy landowner, was just one of 164 Irish works offered for sale at the auction.
Among the other prominent pieces were a Sir William Orpen portrait of the 1920s Egyptian archaeology enthusiast Lady Evelyn Herbert, and Rags, Bones and Bottles, a depiction of Dublin's turn-of-the-century poor by Walter Frederick Osborne.
The work of several contemporary artists, including Seán Scully, John Noel Smith, Robert Ballagh and Dublin native Louis le Brocquy, were also up for auction.
Mr le Brocquy's oil portrait, Image of Samuel Beckett, was sold for £400,000 , a significantly higher sum than had been estimated.
Mr Scully's untitled pastel sold for £204,000 , an auction record for the artist's paper work.
Before reaching the London auction block, many of the pieces had been on exhibit in Ireland last month, with stops at Lismore Castle in Co Waterford and on Molesworth Street in Dublin.
A total of 111 pieces were sold in yesterday's sale.