His piece Alone Yet Together, which consists of a cabinet containing 100 fish suspended in formaldehyde, was unsold after failing to reach its reserve price.

The piece - the first of his formaldehyde creations to go to auction - attracted a highest bid of �85,000 at Christie's.

It had been expected to go for between �100,000 and �150,000.

A second installation piece entitled Loss of Memory is Worse Than Death, which consists of formaldehyde containers in a steel cage, was also unsold. It attracted a bid of just �55,000, compared with its estimate of �80,000 to �120,000.

Damien Hirst: Spot on with painting

But a spot painting by Hirst sold for �73,000, slightly above expectations.

One of his spin paintings - created by splashing paint onto a rotating circular canvas - also went for slightly above the estimate, for �60,900.

In April Christie's established a world record price for Damien Hirst at auction by selling his medicine cabinet, God, for �188,500.

But Hirst's performance on Thursday was indicative of the sale of contemporary art, which attracted mostly low prices.

A Christie's spokesman said: "There were some good sales but other pieces failed to find the buyer on the day."

The two-day sale continues on Friday.