Bonhams is one of the world’s oldest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. Founded by Thomas Dodd and Walter Bonham in London in 1793, Bonhams is still a privately owned company. In addition to fine art and antiques, Bonhams also has a strong presence on the markets for pictures, collectables and motor cars.
Over the years, Bonhams has grown into a wide reaching network of offices, regional representatives and salerooms around the world and absorbed several other auction houses along the way, including the famous Phillips Son & Neale. Bonhams is currently represented at 65+ locations around the globe.
In its native London, Bonham has not just one but two salerooms: the old Knightsbridge Bonham saleroom at the Montepelier Galleries in Montepelier Street and the Philips’ old saleroom at 101 New Bond Street. If we travel north from London, there is one saleroom in Oxford and another one up in Edinburgh. The UK is also home to roughly twenty different regional Bonham offices for valuations and consigments.
All in all Bonham is present in over two dozen countries, with major auctions being held in cities such as Paris, Singapore, Sydney, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Short facts about Bonhams
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Auctions
Valuations |
| Products | Fine arts
Pictures Antiques Collectables Motor cars |
| Founded | By Thomas Dodd and Walter Bonham in London, United Kingdom in 1973 |
| Headquarters | 101 New Bond Street, London, UK |
| Divisions | Bonhams London Bonhams Paris Bonhams New York Bonhams San Francisco Bonhams Los Angeles Bonhams Hong Kong Bonhams Sydney |
Art Loss Register
Bonhams is one of the shareholders of the London-based Art Loss Register, a privately owned database that law enforcement services worldwide can access to help trace and recover stolen art.
History of the Bonhams auction house
Origins
Bonhams was created in 1793 by antique print dealer Thomas Dodd and book specialist Walter Bonham.
19th century
By the mid-19th century, Bonhams had expanded into an auction house for all types of antiques, including furniture, porcelain, jewellery, arms, and armour, and they also arranged wine auctions.
20th century
In the early 1950s, Leonard Bonham bought land in Knightsbridge, London and created a salesroom on Montpelier Street.
21st century
Brooks
In the year 2000, Bonhams was acquired by Brooks auction house, creating Bonhams & Brooks. In comparison with Bonhams, Brooks was a very young auction house, founded in 1989 by Robert Brooks, the former Head of Cars at Christie’s.
Phillips Son & Neale
In November 2001, Bonhams & Brooks merged with Phillips Son & Neale, two of only four extant Georgian auction houses in London. Phillips was founded in 1796 by Harry Phillips, 
who used to be a senior clerk to James Christie, and Phillips is thus only a few years younger than Bonhams.
After the merger, the trading name of the company was changed to just Bonhams, and Bonhams set up its headquarters in Philips Son & Neale’s old building in 101 New Bond Street.
Butterfields
In 2002, Bonhams bought Butterfields, a leading auction house for the United States’ West Coast. A U.S. subsidiary was formed and given the name Bonhams & Butterfields. The following year, Bonhams & Butterfields branched out and entered the East Coast auction market, where their very first auction was for Edwin C. Jameson’s collection of classic cars and antiques in Massachusetts.
2005
2005 was a busy year for Bonhams. The company bought back a 49.9% stake held by the French conglomerate LVMH, thus regaining its independence, opened a salesroom on Madison Avenue in New York City, and opened an office in Paris, France.
East Asia
To increase its presence on the East Asian market, Bonhams opened an office in Hong Kong in 2007. This office works with clients in a wide region, including not just Hong Kong but also mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India. Until 2014, the Hong Kong office also had clients in Singapore, but since then Singapore has had its own Bonhams office.
New salesrooms in New York City
In March 2008, Bonhams New York moved into rooms that used to house the Dahesh Museum of Art on 57th Street and Madison Avenue.
Famous Bonhams auctions in the 21st century
| Item(s) | Auction | Price | Info |
| The painting “A dark bay thoroughbred in a landscape” by George Stubbs | 9th of July, 2003
Bonhams New Bond Street |
£1,931,650 | |
| Roman glass cage cup | 14th of July, 2004 | £2.6 million | The cup used to be in the British Rail Pension Fund |
|
3rd of September 2004
Goodwood Revival |
£4,181,500 | |
|
17th of November 2004 | New U.S. record price for Ming Porcelain | |
|
19th of April 2007 | £1.7 million | |
|
Bonhams Dubai inaugural Middle East Auction in March 2008
(A total of 33 world records were broken at this auction) |
1,048,00 USD | |
|
Bonhams Dubai inaugural Middle East Auction in March 2008
(A total of 33 world records were broken at this auction) |
336,000 USD | |
|
Bonhams Indian and Islamic sale in London on the 10th of April 2008 | £1.7 million | Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in India |
|
The RAF Museum Auction in Hendon, London on the 20th of April 2008 | £1,739,500 | |
| The oil painting “The Sailboat” by Natalia Goncharova | Bonhams Russian sale on the 9th of June 2008 | £1.7 million | |
|
The Entertainment Sale at Bonhams Knightsbridge on the 18th of June 2008 | ||
|
20th of January 2009 | A total of
£220,000 |
Café Royal was a favourite spot for Oscar Wilde |
|
Bonhams at New Bond Street in July 2010 | £1.25 million | |
|
Bonhams at New Bond Street on 10th of November 2011 | £9,001,250 | |
Oil painting of an unidentified man in his fifties or sixties, by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez |
The 7th of December 2011 | £3 million | This was a previously unknown Velazquez, discovered by Bonhams |
|
The 5th of December 2013 | £17,106,500 | |
| The car in which Juan Manuel Fangio won the second of his Formula 1 world titles | Bonhams July 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale | £19,601,500 | Juan Manuel Fangio took a total of 5 Formula 1 World Titles |
|
Bonhams’ Quail Lodge Auction in Carmel, California, USA on
14th of August 2014 |
$38,115,000.00 | This broke the world record for most expensive car sold at auction. |
|
Auction at Bond Street on 16th of December 2015 | £400,000 |
|