Sotheby's (
NYSE:
BID) is the world's oldest international
auction house in continuous operation. Its predecessor, Baker's, was founded in
London,
England on
11 March 1744 when Samuel Baker presided over the disposal of "several hundred scarce and valuable" books from the library of a certain
Rt. Hon. Sir John Stanley. This disposal however was not by means of auction and as Frank Herrmann and Brian Learmount observe, the business did not seek to auction
fine arts in general until much later, their first major success in this field being the sale of a
Frans Hals painting for 9 thousand
guineas as late as
1913. The current business dates back to
1804 when two of the partners of the original business (Leigh and Sotheby) left to set up their own book dealership.
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The London and New York auction house that deals in the finest art objects in the world. They produce a special arms and armour catalog, released approximately quarterly, that details the pieces for sale. These catalogs are invaluable in keeping track of the collector's market, and they occasionally feature photographs of pieces not available in museums. See also
Armour, buying .
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