Bonhams

Bonhams is an auction house with headquarters in the UK. It operates two London salerooms as well as others in Edinburgh, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. 

In 2000, Bonhams was merged with Brooks, a specialist Classic Car auctioneer, and Phillips Son & Neale not long after. US auctioneers Butterfields joined the group in 2002.

In September 2018, chairman Robert Brooks stepped down after selling the company to private equity group Epiris. In 2022, the firm went on a buying spree purchasing US auction house Skinner, Swedish saleroom Bukowskis, Danish saleroom Bruun Rasmussen and then French outfit Cornette de Saint Cyr.


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Woodall plaque makes new high for English cameo glass

03 June 2013

This tour de force of the Victorian glass craftsman’s art was the highlight of Bonhams’ mixed-owner British and European glass sale.

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Regatta drawing sails to new high for Lowry work on paper

31 May 2013

A pencil drawing by LS Lowry (1887-1976) set an auction record for a work on paper by the artist this week, selling for £175,000.

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Ceramics and glass feast for London rooms

07 May 2013

Last week was a busy one for glass and ceramics in the London rooms with five auctions taking place over the space of 48 hours and some bullish prices for top pieces.

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Modern British prints take centre stage

05 April 2013

People sipping wine may be a slightly less familiar subject for Nevinson, but a copy of the print 'Sur La Terrasse, Parnasse' will appear at Bonhams sale of Grosvenor School and Avant Garde British Printmaking in New Bond Street on April 16.

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Chinese Girl sale sets world record for Tretchikoff

21 March 2013

Chinese Girl – the iconic work from Vladimir Tretchikoff, the Russian émigré who settled in South Africa – was sold this week at Bonhams’ South African art sale in London for £840,000, to set a world record for the artist.

Bonhams hold firm on premium

11 March 2013

Bonhams have announced that they will not be following Christie’s and Sotheby’s in raising buyer’s premium thresholds.

A real case of cash in the attic

18 February 2013

It’s usually the stuff of fairy tales, but a collection of $20 gold coins and medals valued at around $1m for sale at Bonhams in Los Angeles in June is real enough.

Rare draft of Betjeman poem for sale

28 January 2013

The handwritten draft of one of John Betjeman’s best-known poems, ‘The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel’, is just one of the gems in the next tranche of the Roy Davids Collection to appear at Bonhams Bond Street.

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Burne-Jones at Bonhams

11 January 2013

Six pencil studies for The Days of Creation by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-98) carry an estimate of £150,000-250,000 at Bonhams’ 19th century art sale in New Bond Street on January 23.

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George Harrison’s jacket tops The Beatles lots at Bonhams

15 December 2012

When it comes to rock and pop memorabilia, and The Beatles in particular, if the provenance is not only right but of the first magnitude, prices can soar.

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Rarities reinforce Leica as the world's most sought-after camera

03 December 2012

Leica cameras proved one of the must-have auction prizes in recent sales with record prices at Westlicht in Vienna and Bonhams Hong Kong.

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Bullish spending at Russian art sales as Coachman delivers £3.9m

30 November 2012

With London now accustomed to high levels of spending by private Russian buyers, the latest auctions in this sector once again produced some eye-catching prices for particular lots.

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From the tavern to the saleroom: pewter in Chester

16 November 2012

Bonhams’ Chester rooms will offer the Michael Boorer Pewter Collection on November 22, providing an opportunity for pewter collectors to bid for items used in pubs 300 to 400 years ago.

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Hurricane returns to its spiritual home for sale

05 November 2012

Bonhams’ December 3 sale at Brooklands will bring a powerful symbol of the Battle of Britain back to its spiritual home.

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Carter tiles ready to be snapped up

05 October 2012

Recently rescued from Kent & Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells, a selection of 13 Carter tiles attributed to Phyllis Butler are to be offered at Bonhams Knightsbridge on October 16.

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An ´ancient´ reappraisal as gems emerge at Bond Street sale

05 October 2012

A collection of 27 intaglios from the collection of Prince Stanislas Poniatowski (1754-1833), nephew of the last King of Poland, came to auction in London last month with a intriguing back-story.

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Russian order provides £40,000 result

05 October 2012

This Russian military medal demolished an estimate of £10,000-15,000 at a recent sale held at Bonhams Knightsbridge.

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Big game in Edinburgh

01 October 2012

Following the late summer sales in Edinburgh, Bonhams have announced that they are to sell the contents of Hensol, an historic Category A-listed mansion at Mossdale, Castle Douglas.

Profits up 24% to boost Bonhams

17 September 2012

Bonhams have released limited financial results for 2011, setting company revenues at £111m, a 22% increase on 2010, according to the Financial Times.

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Olympic Games brings run of auctions

24 August 2012

While the eyes of the world have been on the 2012 London Games, the Olympic influence did not leave the auction scene untouched.

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