Christie's

Christie’s is weighing up options for the sale of the lease of its Old Brompton Road premises after it held its last sale before closing the popular South Kensington auction rooms.

The farewell party for Christie’s South Kensington, around the corner from Old Brompton Road at The Kensington Hotel on July 19, was a melee of former staff, clients and friends of the auction house. So packed was the room, moving from one end to the other was tricky.

Landmarks along the Christie’s South Kensington memory lane...

With the disappearance of Christie’s South Kensington the London market is in a state of flux. ATG looks to the future and considers the opportunities for the firms that seek to take its place.

At just after 10am on July 19, William Porter – the first of four carefully chosen auctioneers – climbed the rostrum to a ripple of applause from an audience of two dozen staff and a dozen or so buyers. “Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Christie’s South Kensington and welcome to the Interiors sale.” Long pause. “For the last time,” he said. “Boo,” heckled a voice from the front.

Christie’s veteran Nic McElhatton believes the CSK model will be hard to replicate...

The closure of Christie's South Kensington has meant several firms are vying to gain a slice of the market in one of London's wealthiest area as well as draw the specialist staff who are moving on.

ATG's selection of quotes about the closure of Christie’s South Kensington...

An extraordinarily rich and varied crop of book sales have taken place this summer.

I grew up with Christie’s South Kensington. In late 1975, when I joined the fledgling four-year-old Antiques Trade Gazette, CSK was in its first year of existence.

Translated from a Paris version that had appeared earlier in that same year of 1535, an 8pp German newsletter giving an account of the execution of Thomas More sold for $11,500 (£9055) as part of the Eric Caren archive at Christie’s New York (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on June 15.

A record-breaking Canaletto (1697-1768) drawing was the toast of the capital’s Old Masters drawings sales.

Written off by some as a dying area, the latest Old Master series in London defied the naysayers with encouraging results during its traditional ‘grand finale’ slot at the end of the London sales season.