Bonhams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bonhams is not only the world's fastest growing auction house, it is also the world’s oldest and largest auctioneer of fine art and antiques still in British ownership. The name Bonhams is recognised worldwide throughout all sectors of the fine art, antiques and collectors market, and several of its departments are established world leaders within their fields. They cover a broad range of items, from paintings to motor cars and cycles, from books to porcelain and contemporary ceramics, jewellery to rivercraft.
Bonhams, Past & Present (Est. 1793) One of the few surviving Georgian London auction houses, Bonhams was founded in 1793 by Thomas Dodd, a renowned antique print dealer and Walter Bonham, a book specialist. Expanded during the 1850s to handle all categories of antiques including jewellery, porcelain, furniture, arms & armour, and fine wines, Bonhams today is active in over 70 categories embracing the entire spectrum of fine art, antiques and collectibles.
Today, Bonhams conducts over 700 sales a year, more than any of its rivals worldwide. The company's international fine art saleroom is located in London's New Bond Street, while its other flagship London saleroom is in fashionable Knightsbridge, where sales are aimed primarily at the collectors' market.
Bonhams is unique in that it offers sales and valuations not only in London, but in the provinces, with nine salerooms and 22 offices throughout the UK. In addition, regular Bonhams sales are held throughout Europe, primarily in Switzerland, Monaco and Germany.
In the U.S., Bonhams & Butterfields, the principal auction house on the West Coast, holds more than 50 auctions a year in the San Francisco and Los Angeles salerooms, featuring a range from 19th century pictures to fine jewellery.
Bonhams' reputation as the fastest-growing auction house continued in 2003 with Goodmans, one of Australia's leading auctioneers, joining the Bonhams group of companies. Bonhams & Goodmans conducts 50 sales of fine art and antiques a year in Sydney and also has representative offices in Brisbane and Perth.
[edit] Departments
The different department of Bonhams are:
Antiquities , Arms and Armour , Asian Art , Books, Maps & Manuscripts , Carpets & Rugs , Clocks, Watches & Barometers , Coins & Medals , Collectors' Items , Contemporary Art , Contemporary Ceramics , Decorative Arts , European Ceramics & Glass , Fine Furniture & Works of Art , Fishing Tackle & Angling Art , Frames , Greek Pictures , Impressionist & Modern Art , Indian Art , Islamic Art , Jewelery , Marine Pictures , Mechanical Antiquities , Mirrors And Lightning , Motor Cars, Motor Cycles & Automobilia , Musical Instruments , Natural History , 19 Century Pictures , Old Master Pictures , Photography , Pianos , Prints , Portrait Miniatures & Silhouettes , Postcards & Cigarette Cards , Rivercraft , Russian Art , Sculpture & Virtue , Sporting Guns , Sporting Memorabilia , Stamps , Textiles , Toys, Dolls and Models , Travel & Topographical , Tribal Century , 20th Century Art , Watercolours , Wine, Port and Spirits
