Master drawings: in a patchy but stable market, specialists vary in their opinions about the allure of provenance and attribution, but all agree that quality is paramount

Apollo, July, 2004 by Susannah Woolmer

Un desinateur assis a une table, de profil a gauche, dessinant un buste de femme, un dessin d'un buste antique accroche au mur by Hubert Robert (1733-1808) (Christie's Paris, 21 March 2002, lot 317)--534,750 [euro] ($100-150,000)

World auction record for a drawing by Hubert Robert

A race meeting on Newmarket heath by Jan Wyck (c. 1645-1700) (Sotheby's London, 10 July 2002, lot 175)--107,850 [pounds sterling] (6-8,000 [pounds sterling])

800 J.H.W. Tischbein (1751-1829) works on paper (Christie's New York, 22 January 2003)--in excess of $1 million

A Hell scene with a fishmonster, circle of Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516). (Sotheby's New York, 21 January 2003, lot 20)--$276,800 ($30-40,000)

The Unicorno Collection (Sotheby's Amsterdam, 19 May 2004)--2,382,452 [euro] (1.3m [euro])) New word record set for the Herman Henstenburgh Vanitas still life and the Josephius Augustus Knip Temple of Minerva Medica in Rome

Saleroom estimates are in italics