On 29 November a historic hammer blow echoed through the splendid surroundings of the Galerie Charpentier, Sotheby’s Paris saleroom, which has been sitting in readiness for the long-awaited end of the French auction monopoly. Gabriele D’Annunzio’s novel 'The Flame' opened the sale of the library of Charles Hayoit. Bidding started at FFr1,000 (£100, $140) and rose to FF70,000). The purchase by Kristen van Riel was greeted with thunderous applause and the purchaser then presented the book to the president of Sotheby’s France, Laure de Beauvau Craon, who had done so much to force open the jealously guarded monopoly.
Once this exciting and photogenic moment was over a lot of the more fashionable people in the audience disappeared, leaving the saleroom to the serious business of auctioning. All the lots were sold, the FFr26 million (£2.6 million, $1.64m) total outstripping expectations with a world record set for an edition of Proust. Du côté de chez Swann, containing a hand-written letter by the author, sold for FFr2 million to the bookseller Patrick Sourget, making it the most expensive printed book in the history of book auctions. Sotheby’s was delighted with the results of their first sale in Paris.
Christie’s turn came the following week when, 235 years to the day after James Christie held his first sale in London, the firm sold the collection of Charles-Otto Zieseniss. The first lot, a pair of bronze andirons, again became a symbol, and fell to the Unesco ambassador Gilbert Chagoury for FFr100,000, again to a round of applause. The two-day sale made FFr18 million (£1.8 million, $2.52m).
Over six days Christie’s sold over 1,000 lots in nine auctions, making a total of FFr79.8 million (£7.8m, $10.8m) with Japanese lacquer, silver, jewellery, books, French furniture, decorative art from the couturier Karl Lagerfeld and Tribal art from the Gaffé collection.
Sotheby’s and Christie’s kick off