Bygone days Auctions go amazingly far back in history. Ancient Greek scribes document auctions-occurring as far back as 500 BCE, when women were often auctioned to be wives! Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius auctioned family furniture and works of art to pay off debts, and Roman soldiers sold their war plunder after battles. Some modern-day auctioning traditions even have their origins in ancient times—the licensed auctioneer, called ‘Magister Auctionarium,' used to drive a spear into the ground to start the auction, leading to today's slightly less dramatic use of a gavel.
Buying days I have far too many wonderful pieces that I've bought at auctions to select just one as a favourite, but I suppose the first piece I bought while still a student comes close. It is a small blue and white Worcester porcelain saucer, with a hand-painted chinoiserie scene from about 1755. I also love the pieces of Chinese porcelain from shipwreck cargoes of the 17th and 18th centuries that I bought at Christie's in Amsterdam, and the massive 19th-century Italian carved wood marble-topped table I bought at a rural auction in Scotland. I was driving a Mini at the time and had no idea how to get it home!
My best auction deals are very easy to remember. There was a pair of 15th-century Chinese blue and white stem cups I bought for £5 because the auctioneer thought they were 19th century. And a 19th-century watercolour I bid £400 on, and before I left the sale room I was offered £1,000 for my paddle. The gentleman paid the £400 and I came away with £1,000. But as an addict magpie I love everything I have bought!
Bargain days Auctions are unbelievably exciting—you never know what you are going to find. In some ways you have the opportunity to snap up a bargain, either because you happen to be there on a slow day or you've done your research and know a little more than the other buyers. Also, an auction gives you the chance to learn so much-you have the sales catalogue, you can handle the lots, and if you are interested in something, you can ask the generally enthusiastic auctioneer to tell you more about it. And when something is ‘knocked down' to you-you feel you've WON.
The best bit about auctions is the ‘job lots,' where the auctioneer puts loads of items in a box to be sold as one lot. They often put in a little ‘sleeper'-something that could be worth more than the rest-as temptation. Auction aficionados head straight for these boxes, but every auction offers a different array of goodies. If you are interested in, say, picking up some old kitchen chairs with a view to painting them and then distressing them, a local general auction might be the best bet. Likewise, if you have a specialist area of collecting, there are many auction houses that hold specialized sales.