Bonhams - Auction Web

Bonhams is a privately owned British auction house founded in 1793. It is the third largest auctioneer after Sotheby's and Christie's, and conducts around 700 auctions per year. The firm has London salerooms in New Bond Street and Knightsbridge. It operates in the USA as Bonhams & Butterfields and in Australia as Bonhams & Goodmans.

In 1999, as Bonhams did not have a motor car department, they merged with specialist auctioneer Brooks.

In 2001 Bonhams took over and re-branded the UK operations of auctioneer Phillips -- the remains of that company now operates as Phillips de Pury & Company, mainly in the USA.

In 2002, Bonhams acquired the American auction house Butterfield & Butterfield, and now operates in the US under the name "Bonhams & Butterfields".

In October 2005, Bonhams gained full independence after buying back a 49.9% stake held by French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. It is a privately owned company.

Phillips de Pury & Company

Phillips, de Pury & Company is an auction house and art dealership, with offices in New York, London, Geneva, Berlin, Brussels, Los Angeles, Milan, Munich and Paris. Phillips conducts auctions in New York, London and Geneva in the areas of Contemporary Art, Photography, 20-21st Century Design, Art and Jewelry. Phillips also handles private treaty sales and art advisory services including building private collections.

The company originated as the London auction house of Phillips, founded in London by Harry Phillips, a young entrepreneur. In 1796 he opened his own auction house after resigning as the senior clerk to James Christie. During his first year of business, Phillips conducted 12 auctions. Success came quickly. Soon, the business was conducting sales for all the famous and distinguished people of the day including Beau Brummel and Napoleon.

To win clients Phillips combined business acumen with a flair for showmanship, introducing new ways to promote his sales such as elaborate evening receptions before important auctions - an essential part of the auction business today. Phillips quickly gained the confidence of the British aristocracy, and remains the only auction house ever to have held a sale inside Buckingham Palace.

When he died in 1840, Harry Phillips passed on a strong and successful business to his son, William Augustus. In 1879, William changed the firm's name to "Messrs Phillips & Son." In 1882 this in turn became "Phillips, Son & Neale" when he brought his son-in-law, Frederick, into the business, and that name continued until the 1970s when the firm returned to "Phillips."

Butterfield & Butterfield

Butterfield and Butterfield was a large American auction house, founded in 1865 by William Butterfield in San Francisco. It was purchased in 1999 by online auctioneer eBay for $260 million. In 2002 it was acquired from eBay by British auctioneer Bonhams and now operates under the name Bonhams and Butterfields.

LVMH

LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton S.A. (Euronext: MC), usually shortened to LVMH, is a French holding company and one of the the world's largest luxury goods conglomerates. It is the parent of around 60 sub-companies that each manage a small number of prestigious brands. These daughter companies are, to a large extent, run autonomously. The group was formed after mergers brought together champagne producer Moët et Chandon and Hennessy, a leading manufacturer of cognac. In 1987, they merged with fashion house Louis Vuitton to form the current group.

The group is partly owned by the Christian Dior group, and Bernard Arnault is Chairman and CEO of both companies. His successful integration of various famous aspirational brands into the group has inspired other luxury companies into doing the same. Thus Gucci (now part of the French conglomerate PPR) and Richemont have also created extended portfolios of luxury brands. The oldest of the LVMH brands is wine producer Château d'Yquem, which dates its origins back to 1593.

In 2001 De Beers launched a joint venture with LVMH in order to establish De Beers as a retail brand.

LVMH created a prize called the "Prix Science pour l'Art", which nominated several scientists who would later receive the Nobel Prize. The last Prize was awarded in 1997 to Rolf Landauer.