James Christie, a Scotland-born UK auctioneer, was the one to found Christie’s auction house on December 5th, 1766, in London, England. It started as a studio for prominent artists’ auction sales and evolved into something much bigger. Namely, after handling a number of important art auctions, such as the one where sir Robert Walpole’s painting collections were sold to Catherine the Great of Russia in 1778, Christie’s quickly established itself as a renowned auction house. That led to capitalizing on London’s newfound prominence as a major international art trade hub during the French Revolution.
Following his father’s death in 1803, James Christie II, a specialist in ancient Greek and Italian art, took over the business. It stayed as a private company until 1973 when it went public, and then it was bought by Francois Pinault, a French businessman and a mega art collector, in 1999.
In the late 1950s, they expanded from London — first was a new office in Rome in 1958; then, one in Geneva (1968) and one in Tokyo (1969). Nowadays, they have offices all over the world — from Singapore to the USA.
Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business with a physical presence in 46 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, and flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva.
Renowned and trusted for our expert live and online-only auctions, as well as bespoke Private Sales, Christie’s unparalleled network of specialists offers our clients a full portfolio of global services, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $500 to over $100 million.
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 1766
Date: December 5
Source: https://www.artdex.com/history-of-auctions-auction-houses/
History of Auctioneering
Holiday Inn Convention Center, Stevens Point, WI
Country:
Year: 2018
Date: January 28
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The longest auction by one single auctioneer (duration) is 24 hours and 6 minutes and was achieved by James Lewis, Bamfords and the children of Saint Anselm’s School (all UK) in Rowsley, Derbyshire, UK, on 22 June 2019.
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2019
Date: June 22
Source: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/210971-longest-auction-by-one-single-auctioneer-duration
John M “Jack” Reynolds Jr., age 92, of Dodgeville died on Saturday, June 22, 2019 at Uplands Hills Hospital. In 1959 Jack graduated from Reich School of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa. He loved being an auctioneer. Jack sold household and antique auctions through Reynolds Auction Service. He auctioneered and managed three livestock markets, sold over 7000 sales over 42 years in the livestock business even making the millionaires club by selling $21 million worth of livestock in 1980 at markets in Fennimore and Shullsburg.
Jack sold the first video livestock auction in 1985 garnering attention throughout the state and country for the innovative process. He was active in the Wisconsin Auctioneers Association and National Auctioneers Association; participated in the World Championship Auctioneers Contest In 1973; and served as a judge in the World Championship Auctioneers Contest in 1976 and 1980.
Country: United States
Year: 2019
Date: June 22
Source: https://www.houckfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/John-M-Jack-Reynolds?obId=17767200
The oldest cognac sold at auction is a bottle of 1762 Gautier, which was 258 years old at the time it was purchased by Nguyen Dinh Tuan Viet (Vietnam) at a Sotheby’s auction in London, UK, on 28 May 2020.
The bottle is known as the ‘Grand Frere’ and is the largest of the three bottles of 1762 Gautier.
Country: Vietnam
Year: 2020
Date: May 28
Source: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/420937-oldest-cognac-sold-at-auction
R. Jerome Boge, husband, father, papa to ten grandchildren, radiation physicist, and auctioneer extraordinaire, died suddenly at home Saturday, March 21, 2020. Jerome decided to look into auctioneering as an avocation and a respite from his intense work with cancer patients. He remembered going to farm auctions with his father and always admired the auctioneer. After running a few amateur household auctions, he decided to attend a two-week course at the Reisch Worldwide School of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa.
After doing some estate auctions, he decided to donate his services to charities and fund raisers. This was his way of doing community service. In over 44 years, he conducted almost 2500 benefit auctions, raising over 2 million dollars for local agencies and causes, including the La Crosse Symphony, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Pump House, St. Francis Tiny Tim, Red Cross, Boys and Girls Club, and countless others. He finished his auctioning career at the Chamber Chorale’s May Feaste in 2018. Parkinson’s sapped his energy and he no longer had the stamina to do an extended auction.
Country: United States
Year: 2020
Date: March 21
Source: https://www.blaschkeschneider.com/obituaries/r-jerome-boge
Eldon F. Schraepfer, long time area auctioneer and realtor, passed away on Monday morning, January 6, 2020 at Upland Hills Hospital in Dodgeville at the age of 86. After graduation, Eldon was engaged in farming. He began his auctioneer career in 1956 under the guidance of the late Walter Gould and James Gordon. He entered the real estate business in 1967. Eldon loved the auction and realty business, and he enjoyed all of the people he met and interacted with. He was very active in his business with memberships in the Wisconsin Auctioneers Association, where he served as President and was named Auctioneer of the Year; and the Southwest Wisconsin Realtors Association, where he also served as President and was named Realtor of the Year. Eldon and Clarice enjoyed attending many state and national auctioneer conventions throughout the years.
Country: United States
Year: 2020
Date: January 6
Source: https://themonroetimes.com/monroe-times-obituaries/eldon-f-schraepfer/
The 2020 WAA Annual Convention was held at Stevens Point Holiday Inn Convention Center in Stevens Point, WI.
Country: United States
Year: 2020
Date: February 7
Source:
The Department of Safety and Professional Services has established an auctioneer reciprocity agreement with Ohio. Under the new agreement, Wisconsin auctioneers who pursue licensure through reciprocity will be able to handle live auctions in Ohio. This is the first new reciprocity agreement for Wisconsin auctioneers in twenty years, and Ohio is just the seventh state to recognize reciprocity for Wisconsin.
Country: United States
Year: 2020
Date: December 16
Source: https://www.midwestfarmreport.com/2020/12/16/new-agreement-creates-licensing-reciprocity-for-wisconsin-auctioneers-in-ohio/
The youngest auctioneer (female) is Lianna Kruse-Sislyan (USA, b. 28 March 2013) who was 7 years 325 days old when she became a certified auctioneer, as verified in Los Angeles, USA, on 15 February 2021. Lianna completed the Nashville, Tennessee auctioneering program.
Country: United States
Year: 2021
Date: February 15
Source: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/youngest-auctioneer
The most expensive gun sold at auction is $1,040,600 (£764,953 / €900,267) for a Colt .45 semi automatic pistol once owned by Al Capone, at a private auction hosted by Witherell’s Auction House (USA), in Sacramento, California, USA, on 4 October 2021. The auction was won by Tarek Tabsh (USA).
Country: United States
Year: 2021
Date: October 4
Source: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/62512-most-expensive-gun-sold-at-auction