Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- A Damien Hirst shark-in-formaldehyde work sold tonight in London for 9.6 million pounds ($17.2 million) with fees in Sotheby's ``Beautiful Inside My Head Forever'' auction of new pieces by the U.K.'s wealthiest artist.

Titled ``The Kingdom,'' the black-framed tank containing a 7-foot, 9-inch tiger shark had been expected to fetch between 4 million pounds and 6 million pounds.

The two-day, 223-lot sale -- the first in which a major contemporary artist has offered a large body of work direct to the public at auction -- is expected to fetch in excess of 65 million pounds, said Sotheby's. Its outcome was crucial to the confidence of the contemporary-art market, according to a report published on Sept. 2 by the research company ArtTactic.

``The sale was magnificent, a triumph,'' London dealer Ivor Braka said in an interview. ``At a time when other markets are reeling and the press are writing cynical and damning reports, the people with the free cash and the will have ignored the storm warnings and the voyage goes on.''

The shark was bought by Bruno Vinciguerra, chief operating officer of Sotheby's based in New York, acting for a client.

Signature Piece

The preserved creature in this 2008 work is about half the size of the 13-foot tiger shark that Hirst used for his signature 1991 piece, ``The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,'' which the U.K. collector Charles Saatchi sold to SAC Capital Advisors founder Steven A. Cohen for $8 million in 2005.

The original shark was disintegrating at the time of the sale, and the artist had it replaced. It is now on a three-year loan to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Eight lots later, a Charolais bull calf preserved in formaldehyde sold for 10.3 million pounds with fees. It was bought by Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby's European chairman of contemporary art, bidding on behalf of a client.

Embellished with 18-carat gold horns and hooves, and contained in a gold-plated tank set on a Carrara marble plinth, ``The Golden Calf'' was expected to fetch at least 8 million pounds.

The previous record paid in pounds for a Hirst work was the 9.7 million pounds with fees at Sotheby's, London, in June 2007 for the 2002 pill vitrine piece, ``Lullaby Spring,'' said the saleroom result tracker ArtNet.

``It was good for all of us,'' London dealer Ben Brown said of the auction. ``It made sense. People were buying a piece of history: it was an historic sale.''

Sotheby's shares rose 1 percent to $23.29 as other U.S. stocks declined after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy increased speculation the slump in financial markets and the economy will deepen.

(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Scott Reyburn in London at sreyburn@hotmail.com.

Last Updated: September 15, 2008 16:39 EDT