A rare and important Meissen figure of a monkey taking snuff topped Sotheby's auction of Property from the Collection of Sir Gawaine and Lady Baillie, which was held in London on May 1.

The Meissen monkey was originally part of the Royal Collections of Saxony

The monkey made an impressive 104.6% increase on its £400,000 high estimate, selling for £818,500 ($1.2m). In total, the auction - comprised mostly of Meissen porcelain and furniture - realised £4m ($6.2m).

Sir Gawaine Baillie was a racing driver, engineer and industrialist. Following his death in 2003, it was discovered that he had been concealing one of the greatest collections of British Empire stamps ever formed, which totalled almost £16m ($24.8m) over a series of sales at Sotheby's.

In March, Bonhams offered the Delphinium Collection, one of the most important collections of Meissen porcelain ever seen at auction.