The Gavel

Gavels come in all shapes, sizes and materials: with handles, and without. James Christie’s gavel of choice was made of wood, mahogany to be precise, with a handle as we can see here in Dighton’s Specious Orator. There are various ways to hold a gavel including: cupping it in the palm of your hand; or as if it was an instrument between thumb and forefinger. The bringing down of the gavel onto the rostrum allows the auctioneer to preside over the sale and signifies when with a loud knock that the object has been sold (hence the term knocked down to the successful bidder). The auctioneer has discretion to continue the bidding if they ‘miss’ a bid. For such a small implement it can wield a lot of authority. The auction house does keep a selection of ‘emergency’ gavels, however, a good auctioneer keeps their gavel close to their heart and it travels everywhere with them!

(Reproduced with the consent of Christie’s auctioneers).