If you are luxury connoisseur there is no way that you wouldn’t know about one of the world’s biggest auction house Sotheby’s Realty. The 260 year old company has a rich history of auctioning legendary items, everything from jewelry to estate, rare paintings to collector’s collection and the list is endless. The company was founded way back in 1744 by Samuel Baker who had also orhanised the first ever sale in his own name. The first offering to under the hammer was the library of a certain Rt. Hon. Sir John Stanley, Bart. Described as “containing several Hundred scarce and valuable books in all branches of Polite Literature” for something close to a few hundred pounds.
Sotheby’s has witnessed it all. It has survived pretty well even after the Great Depression of 1990s and knows what exactly to do when such trade cycles hit the economies. After all 250 years of experience does give them a strong edge in the industry. By the spring of 2000, the company became the first international art auction house to hold auctions on the Internet. Their online portabl was the one-stop-destination for some dramatic and unprecedented successes, including the sale of a first printing of the Declaration of Independence for more than $8 million, 21 panels of the historic Boston Garden floor, and a masterwork by Frederick, Lord Leighton. Even today they seem to be raking in excellent amount of money for their clients owing to their innovative practices. This is perhaps why we chose them in our list of 5 nominees for Estate Auctions. Click here to vote for this nominee.
