Four previously unseen early photographs of the rock band U2 by renowned photographer Anton Corbijn failed to sell at auction in Dublin yesterday evening.
The collection of black and white prints, which feature the four band members and Peter Rowen, the boy who appeared on the band's Boy and War albums in the early 1980s, were expected to sell for between €8,000 and €12,000.
This followed a price of €12,000 achieved late last year for a single signed photograph of the band by Mr Corbijn.
However, at the auction in the James Adam salesrooms on St Stephen's Green in Dublin yesterday evening, the photographs failed to reach their reserve price of €8,000.
The highest bid for the photographs, whose sale had received widespread media publicity in recent weeks, was €7,700.
Accompanied by a hand-written note to Bono from the photographer, they were being auctioned on behalf of Mr Rowen.
They will now be returned to him, although Jane Beattie, associate director of fine art at Adam's, said there remained a possibility that another interested purchaser who had missed the auction might emerge.
"Of course we're disappointed, and I'm sure the vendor will be disappointed," she said.
"I am surprised they didn't sell, but there are no guarantees," she told The Irish Times last night
Adam's had been expecting a lot of interest in the photographs among U2 fans both in Ireland and elsewhere.
Fans of the photographer's work were also expected to be interested in the auction.