Picasso's renowned linocut Portrait de Jeune Fille, d'Apres Cranach le Jeune has beaten its estimate by 8.8% to lead Sotheby's Picasso Through the Eyes of a Connoisseur auction on November 3 in New York.

This is one of the most famous of Picasso's linocuts

Portrait of a Young Woman, after Cranach the Younger proved the crowning piece of a single-owner collection comprising Picasso's finest prints, drawings and ceramics. It sold for $653,000 against a valuation of $400,000-600,000.

Picasso first experimented with linocut in the 1930s, but only fully embraced the medium in the early 1950s, when he began working with the printer Hidalgo Arnera.

Portrait of a Young Woman, after Cranach the Younger is one of the finest works from this period, produced in a numbered edition of 50.

A similar work from 1962, Portrait de Femme au Chapeau a Pompons et au Corsage Imprime made $509,000, bringing the second highest bids of the sale.

One of the most fascinating lots in the sale was Femme aux Cheveux Verts, a series of eight lithographs of the same composition in various states, which are a fabulous display of Picasso's printmaking techniques.

Created in 1949, the set sold for $437,000.

Picasso's ceramics are well loved by collectors, and are often met with strong bids

Picasso's beloved ceramics saw strong bids, with a gold plate from 1956 making a 31.6% increase on its $250,000 high estimate to sell for $329,000.

The work is entitled Jacqueline au Chevalet and shows Picasso's wife in the role reversal at the easel. Created in 1956, it is a unique sample in gold.

Paul Fraser Collectibles has a superb postcard from Picasso for sale, with the artist signing one of his most famous works.