The Christie’s sale of Scottish art—which has been held every October in downtown Edinburgh since 1999 and, starting last year, each May in London—no longer caters exclusively to nostalgic Gaels. “The market is much more international,” says Laura Lindsay, the house’s head of Scottish art, who adds that nearly one-third of the lots sold in Edinburgh typically go to overseas collectors.

The existence of an international market for Scottish art is not surprising— the Scots, after all, have long been an itinerant people. Among the prized lots in the auction, which takes place on October 23, is Sketch for the Penny Wedding, 1830 (est. £80,000–120,000; $155–235,000) by David Wilkie, who found abundant inspiration in the Middle East. And the cosmopolitanism of the London-based painter Allan Ramsay is on full display in his 1749 self-portrait, another striking piece on offer (est. £200–300,000; $390– 585,000). “He’d just returned from Italy, and there’s a flamboyance and swagger about the picture that makes it quite appealing,” Lindsay says.

In these sales, though, older works are often overshadowed by 20th-century ones from artists like Samuel Peploe, whose Pink Roses in a Blue Vase with Fruit, 1920s, is hitting the block with an estimate of £250,000 to £350,000 ($490–685,000).

"United Kingdom" originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's October 2008 Table of Contents.