CHRISTIE’S

History: Two centuries of development to become global
Founded in 1766 by James Christie, the firm holds a first sale this year in Pall Mall, his first permanent auction rooms. The sale includes 2 chamber pots, a pair of sheets, 2 pillowcases and 4 irons. The first important sale occurred in 1778 when James Christie values Sir Robert Walpole’s collection of pictures and negotiates their sale for £40,000 to the Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great.
Christie’s quickly became a famous auction house and conducted the greatest auctions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and today remains a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful.
Although the company holds regular auctions worldwide, its principal selling centers are located in London and New York City. Dubbed 'the oldest fine arts auctioneers in the world' (rival Sotheby's is 22 years older, but began by selling books), Christie's has set record prices not only for works of art but also wine, scientific instruments, carpet, photographs, cameras, and teddy bears.
Christie’s offers nowadays over 450 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $80 million.

Christie’s / Sotheby’s: Brothers at odds a) Competition and rivalry
It seems impossible to understand Christie’s development without looking at its strange relationship with Sotheby’s, the other great fine art auctioneer, for more than two centuries and a half.
The two companies had specific areas of expertise at the beginning, but quickly the need to grow to survive and the extension of their understanding of the “fine arts” led them to get involve in new categories (jewellery, wine, collectibles…)
After 50 years of passing picture sales on to Christie's in favour of auctioning book collections, Sotheby's management decided to begin auctioning paintings at the beginning of the 20th century. By 1917,