The top lot, an oil portrait that could be of fellow artist Lucian Freud or Bacon’s lover George Dyer, went to a telephone bidder for £470,000. It had been estimated to sell for £18,000.

Among the items were three studies of dogs, one of which went for £305,500, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of £3,000.

Four of Bacon’s pocket diaries also went under the hammer, with a 1971 edition detailing Dyer’s death going for £2,350.

Cheques signed by the artist fetched £650, while previously unseen photos of Bacon and his male friends went for £6,815. The first passport and national registration identity card of an earlier lover, Peter Lacy, telegrams, and letters to and from the artist, all sold for well above their estimates. A postcard fetched £10,000.

Ewbank’s, the Surrey auctioneers who carried out the sale, had to double the number of phone lines into the saleroom to cope with the demand. The auction was also broadcast live on the internet. Chris Ewbank, the auctioneer, said: “There has never been a sale like this so I had no idea what things would fetch. But this has exceeded my wildest expectations.”

Posted: 04|25|07 at 10:56 am. Filed under: UK News.