DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73058#0137
Art Auction Rooms.
of the vessels employed in transportation, but afterwards fished up comparatively little injured. In a rare book,a pur-
chased by Mr. Harvey at the sale of the library of Mr. Bull, of Ongar, the friend of Walpole, the following MS. note
appears in the handwriting of Mr. Bull : "This noble collection of pictures was sold to the Empress of Russia in the
year 1779, for the sum of £40,555, being the value set upon them by West and Cipriani. Most of the family portraits
were reserved. N.B.—The pictures were valued separately, and may be seen in the following catalogue of the Houghton
collection. Mr. Horace Walpole told me the whole cost his father something short of £40,000, including the pictures
that were at the Treasury ; but it should be remembered that several were presented to Sir Robert Walpole, and which
(sic) are specified in the catalogue."
[Copy.]
This is to certify that this collection was valued at forty thousand and five hundred pounds by Mr. James Christie, of
Pall Mall, and that said collection was purchased by Her Imperial Majesty of Russia at said valuation.
£40,500. A. M. Pouschkin.
a /Edes Walpolianee ; or, a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall, in Norfolk, the seat of the Right Hon. Sir Robert
Walpole, Earl of Orford. The Third Edition.
" Artists and Plans relieved my solemn Hours,
I founded Palaces and planted Bow'rs." —Prior's Solomon.
London : Printed in the year MDCCLXVII.
Pall Mall, next door to Gainsborough's house, and close to the War Office. Mr. James
Christie died in 1802, and was succeeded by his son James, an author and scholar of
no mean attainments, on whose singularly critical judgment in connection with the fine
arts, patrons learned to implicitly rely.* The removal of the firm to its present well-
* Mr. James Christie was the author of the following works : (1) A Disquisition upon Etruscan Vases. 1806. Fol.
(2) An Enquiry into the Antient Greek Game, supposed to have been invented by Palamedes, etc., with reasons for
believing the same to have been known in China. 1801. 4to. (3) Dissertation on the Lanti Vase. Outline Engravings
and Descriptions of the Woburn Abbey Marbles. 1822. fol. (4) Disquisitions upon the Painted Greek Vases, and
their probable connection with the Shows of the Eleusinian and other Mysteries. London, 1825. 4to. (5) An Essay
on that Earliest Species of Idolatry, the Worship of the Elements. Norwich, 1814. qto. (6) An Enquiry into the
Early History of Greek Sculpture. London, 1833. 4to.
known position in King Street, St. James's, occurred in 1825. Mr. James Christie died in
1829, having been previously joined by Mr. Manson. Mr. George Christie succeeded his
father, and his brother, Mr. Stirling Christie, was also a member of the firm for the few
years he lived. Mr. William Manson died in 1852, and was succeeded by his brother,
Mr. Edward Manson. In 1859, Mr. James Christie, the great-grandson of the founder,
and Mr. Thomas Woods joined the firm. Mr. Edward Manson retired about five years
ago, leaving in the firm the present members, Mr. James Christie and Mr. Thomas Woods,
whose faces are so well known to habitue's of the St. James's Street rooms.
The descriptive catalogues of art sales, contained in about one hundred volumes,
approximately numbering in all five thousand catalogues, held at Christie, Manson &
Woods' from its establishment to the present time, a complete priced set being in the
offices of the firm, contain matter the importance of which it is almost impossible to over-
estimate.* The art treasures of most of the principal personages—actors, artists, authors,
* The writer had intended adding to this outline a synopsis of the more important sales ; but an examination of the
immense mass of material convinced him that it would be better to leave the task to abler hands.
from A to Z—of the noble, the gentle, the learned, and the notable, et hoc genus omne,
who have figured on the stage of life during a period of upwards of a century, have passed
under the hammer in these rooms ; and could a pen be found worthy of the task, would
suggest material for a grand biographical art history. The compiler of such a work would
III find
of the vessels employed in transportation, but afterwards fished up comparatively little injured. In a rare book,a pur-
chased by Mr. Harvey at the sale of the library of Mr. Bull, of Ongar, the friend of Walpole, the following MS. note
appears in the handwriting of Mr. Bull : "This noble collection of pictures was sold to the Empress of Russia in the
year 1779, for the sum of £40,555, being the value set upon them by West and Cipriani. Most of the family portraits
were reserved. N.B.—The pictures were valued separately, and may be seen in the following catalogue of the Houghton
collection. Mr. Horace Walpole told me the whole cost his father something short of £40,000, including the pictures
that were at the Treasury ; but it should be remembered that several were presented to Sir Robert Walpole, and which
(sic) are specified in the catalogue."
[Copy.]
This is to certify that this collection was valued at forty thousand and five hundred pounds by Mr. James Christie, of
Pall Mall, and that said collection was purchased by Her Imperial Majesty of Russia at said valuation.
£40,500. A. M. Pouschkin.
a /Edes Walpolianee ; or, a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall, in Norfolk, the seat of the Right Hon. Sir Robert
Walpole, Earl of Orford. The Third Edition.
" Artists and Plans relieved my solemn Hours,
I founded Palaces and planted Bow'rs." —Prior's Solomon.
London : Printed in the year MDCCLXVII.
Pall Mall, next door to Gainsborough's house, and close to the War Office. Mr. James
Christie died in 1802, and was succeeded by his son James, an author and scholar of
no mean attainments, on whose singularly critical judgment in connection with the fine
arts, patrons learned to implicitly rely.* The removal of the firm to its present well-
* Mr. James Christie was the author of the following works : (1) A Disquisition upon Etruscan Vases. 1806. Fol.
(2) An Enquiry into the Antient Greek Game, supposed to have been invented by Palamedes, etc., with reasons for
believing the same to have been known in China. 1801. 4to. (3) Dissertation on the Lanti Vase. Outline Engravings
and Descriptions of the Woburn Abbey Marbles. 1822. fol. (4) Disquisitions upon the Painted Greek Vases, and
their probable connection with the Shows of the Eleusinian and other Mysteries. London, 1825. 4to. (5) An Essay
on that Earliest Species of Idolatry, the Worship of the Elements. Norwich, 1814. qto. (6) An Enquiry into the
Early History of Greek Sculpture. London, 1833. 4to.
known position in King Street, St. James's, occurred in 1825. Mr. James Christie died in
1829, having been previously joined by Mr. Manson. Mr. George Christie succeeded his
father, and his brother, Mr. Stirling Christie, was also a member of the firm for the few
years he lived. Mr. William Manson died in 1852, and was succeeded by his brother,
Mr. Edward Manson. In 1859, Mr. James Christie, the great-grandson of the founder,
and Mr. Thomas Woods joined the firm. Mr. Edward Manson retired about five years
ago, leaving in the firm the present members, Mr. James Christie and Mr. Thomas Woods,
whose faces are so well known to habitue's of the St. James's Street rooms.
The descriptive catalogues of art sales, contained in about one hundred volumes,
approximately numbering in all five thousand catalogues, held at Christie, Manson &
Woods' from its establishment to the present time, a complete priced set being in the
offices of the firm, contain matter the importance of which it is almost impossible to over-
estimate.* The art treasures of most of the principal personages—actors, artists, authors,
* The writer had intended adding to this outline a synopsis of the more important sales ; but an examination of the
immense mass of material convinced him that it would be better to leave the task to abler hands.
from A to Z—of the noble, the gentle, the learned, and the notable, et hoc genus omne,
who have figured on the stage of life during a period of upwards of a century, have passed
under the hammer in these rooms ; and could a pen be found worthy of the task, would
suggest material for a grand biographical art history. The compiler of such a work would
III find