At our December meeting we welcomed Stephen Poulter to talk about auctions.
Stephen commenced his talk by giving us the history of auctions starting with the Babylonian marriage markets through to the auctions in the Roman Empire then to those described in Samual Pepys’s diary entries. Whilst the Georgian period was the birthplace of one major London auction House – Christies. Pre estate agencies land and houses were sold at auctions.
Not all auctions start at the least value and go up. In the 17th and 18th centuries a candle was used to determine the successful buyer - a short candle, about an inch is lit and bidding continues until it goes out, and the last bid made before it goes out is the one that stands. The auctioneer in the Netherlands flower markets begins each sale with a predetermined highest asking price, lowering it until a bid is made or a reserve price is reached. Prices are shown on a clock.
Post WWI Country House auctions were common, and visiting these was a happy pastime for many locals.
We also heard of the criminality within the business -some mock and pop up auctions. Planted bidders used to push up the price.
Auctions were made very popular through the TV Lovejoy series, Going for a song, Antique Roadshow, etc But the advent of the Ebay has had a huge impact and now so many auctions are on line and can attract bidders from all over the world.
Our February meeting on Thursday 15th at 7.30pm will include our AGM. The talk will be ’The silk cities to Ubekistan’.