Among the most expensive paintings from the Dutch school were Rembrandt’s large pendant portraits of the Pellicornes. Together, these realised 30,200 guilders at the sale of William II’s collection. The new owner was the Marquess of Hertford, whose collection of old masters now forms the core of the Wallace Collection in London. He also purchased another nine Dutch paintings at the sale.
Almost all the buyers were agents bidding on behalf of well-known international clients. Beside the Marquess of Hertford, there were the Tsar of Russia, the Rothschilds and the Luxembourg collector Jean-Pierre Pescatore. Purchases were also made on behalf of several public collections, such as museums in Antwerp and Brussels and the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt. But there was one noticeable absentee. The Dutch government made no effort at all to retain the valuable collection for the nation.