Abstract

By 1800, the city of London had developed into a major hub for the art trade and numerous auction houses vied for market share in this competitive environment. Combining data from the Getty Provenance Index® and a unique set of journals preserved at the Christie’s archives in London which contain presale evaluations for paintings during the 1820s, this paper explores the business strategy of the auction house. We gauge the relationship between the estimates and the hammer price or highest bid in the subsequent public auction, and the reserve price when available. We argue that Christie’s developed the expertise and engendered the trust among sellers to secure consignments of desirable works of art, which were estimated at realistic and attractive levels that gave the company a competitive advantage in the booming London art market.

摘要

到 1800 年，伦敦市已发展成为艺术品交易的主要中心，众多拍卖行在这个竞争激烈的环境中争夺市场份额。本文结合 Getty Provenance Index® 的数据和伦敦佳士得档案馆保存的一组独特期刊（其中包含 1820 年代画作的预售评估），探讨了拍卖行的商业策略。我们衡量估价与后续公开拍卖中的落槌价或最高出价以及可用底价之间的关系。我们认为佳士得开发了专业知识并在卖家之间建立了信任，以确保寄售理想的艺术品，这些艺术品的估价是现实且有吸引力的水平，这使该公司在蓬勃发展的伦敦艺术品市场中具有竞争优势。