The Rostrum
Today auctioneers at Christie's worldwide climb onto a mahogany rostrum. The original mahogany rostrum (the name for the platform or stand on which public speakers stood in the Forum of ancient Rome) was made for James Christie (1730-1803) by his friend Thomas Chippendale, the younger (1749-1822), the eldest son who took over the cabinet-making business on his father's death in 1779. The earliest image we have of the founder on the rostrum taking a sale is this 1783 cartoon by Humphrey Eloquence or the King of Epithets.
This original rostrum was destroyed in 1941 during the London Blitz, when King Street was hit with incendiary bombs. The auction house at No. 8 King Street was razed to the ground with only the Portland stone façade and entrance remaining intact. Today at King Street you will find four mahogany rostrums that are wheeled from saleroom to saleroom, each emblazoned proudly with one word: Christie’s.
