Founded in 1744, Sotheby’s is the oldest and largest internationally recognised firm of fine art auctioneers in the world. It has a global network of 80 offices and the company’s annual worldwide sales turnover is currently in excess of $7 billion.
Sotheby’s founder, Samuel Baker, was an entrepreneur, occasional publisher and successful bookseller who held his first auction under his own name on 11 March 1744. The dispersal of “several Hundred scarce and valuable Books in all branches of Polite Literature” from the library of Sir John Stanley fetched a grand total of £826.
Baker concocted enticing advertising campaigns and produced authoritative catalogues. He was, as one colleague noted, a “joyous fellow” with a fondness for plum-coloured coats.
For more than a century, Baker and his successors were to handle all of the great libraries sold at auction, including those of the Earls of Sunderland, Hopetoun and Pembroke and the Dukes of Devonshire, York and Buckingham. Following Napoleon’s death, Sotheby’s sold the books he had taken into exile to St Helena – the final lot was the Emperor’s tortoiseshell-and-gold walking stick.
In 1767 Baker went into partnership with George Leigh. Leigh was a natural auctioneer with an actor’s sense of timing. His ivory hammer is still on display at Sotheby’s London galleries. On Baker’s death in 1778, his estate was divided between Leigh and Baker’s nephew John Sotheby, whose family remained involved in the business for more than 80 years. During that time the company extended its role to take in the sale of prints, coins, medals and antiquities.
In 1842 John Wilkinson, the firm’s senior accountant, became a partner and when the last of the Sotheby family died in 1861, Wilkinson took over as head of the business. Three years later he promoted Edward Grose Hodge, and restyled the company Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, the name it carried until 1924.
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 1744
Date: March 11
Source: https://www.sothebys.com/en/about/our-history
History of Auctioneering
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In 1964, Sotheby’s expanded itself by buying Parke-Bernet, the USA’s largest fine art auction house at the time. Today, it’s noted as the oldest and largest international firm of fine art auctioneers in the world. It has 80 locations across the globe and sees an annual turnover of about $4 billion.
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In 1786, Christie’s sold the library of the famous Dr. Samuel Johnson, creator of the Dictionary of the English Language (1755). This collection included insightful books on a variety of topics, including but not limited to medicine, law, math, and theology.
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In 1824, The National Gallery was founded in London. It opened its doors with many purchases from Christie’s. New York’s MET museum also made its first connection to the London market through Christie’s, sending them their first lot for sale in 1958. Today, Christie’s boasts a worldwide influence with locations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
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In June 2019, French-Israeli telecom businessman Patrick Drahi made an offer to buy Sotheby’s for $3.7 billion. This meant that following the acquisition, Sotheby’s could be more flexible in its deals now that it didn’t have to justify expensive guarantees or other benefits to shareholders. This new structure also gave comfort to their higher-profile buyers who would rather not be scrutinized by the public eye. Following the adoption of this new private curtain, the comparison between Sotheby’s and Christie’s was more strongly apples to apples than ever before.
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The auction by candle also played a pivotal role in defining legal history. It was used as a standard procedure in the Court of Chancery, where trust property was sold off. The Sales of Land by Auction Act 1867 officially made it lawful to pay commission to an auctioneer, marking a significant milestone in the auctioneering profession.
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The most valuable picture postcard in the world was sent by Theodore Hook Esq. to himself in 1840 and was bought at the London Stamp Exchange auction, UK on 8 March 2002 by collector Eugene Gomberg (Latvia) for £31,758.75 ($45,370.60). It is also considered to be the oldest postcard in the world.
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The oldest bottle of wine to have been sold at auction was a bottle of 1646 Imperial Tokay, which was bought by John A. Chunko of Princeton, New Jersey, USA and Jay Walker of Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA for SFr 1250 (£;405) including buyers premium at Sothebys, Geneva, Switzerland on 16 Nov 1984.
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The most expensive wine sold at auction is a Romanée Conti 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti bottle, sold at $558,000 (£422,801; €481,976) including premium, auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York, USA, on 13 October 2018.
The 73 year old French Burgundy bottle, part of a 600 batch produced by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, sold more than 17 times the original asking price of $32,000 (£24,246; €27,640). The mark up in the bottles value is suspected to be a result of Chinese market’s interest in French Burgundy. In addition, the bottle was sold by Robert Drouhin, patriarch of Maison Joseph Drouhin.
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A Batpod motorcycle used in the filming of The Dark Knight Rises (USA, 2012) sold at the 2016 Prop Store Live Auction by Prop Store (UK) on 27 September 2016 for £312,000 ($404,393).
The Batpod was the “hero” vehicle used for filming close-ups, meaning that it had more detail than others used for filming at long distance but is largely non-functioning. The motorcycle was designed by Christopher Nolan and production designer Nathan Crowley, and brought to life by special-effects artist Chris Corbould, who made six of the vehicles. Its pre-auction estimate was between $80,000 and $110,000, so it secured about four times the expected price.
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