Artigo Revisado por pares

James Christie and his auction house

2008; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 33; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0307472200015194

ISSN

2059-7525

Autores

Lynda McLeod,

Tópico(s)

Historical Economic and Social Studies

Resumo

Mr James Christie (1730-1803) became London’s premier auctioneer in the 1760s and he was still at the top of his profession at his death in 1803. This brief history of the man and his auction house outlines his early career in Covent Garden, the setting up of his own auction rooms during the 1760s and some of his early successes. He came to rely less on the three D’s: Death, Divorce and Debt (still the primary reason for selling at auction in the 21st century) for the source of goods, and also moved away from run-of-the-mill anonymous household furniture sales. Christie encouraged a new breed of seller – the lords and ladies of the land together with princes and royals – and the article highlights a few of the varied characters who entrusted James Christie with the sale of their property.

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