The Paddle

For many years, in fact hundreds of years' paddles were not in use during an auction, it was enough to raise your hand in the room. During the Christie family period (1766-1899) the auctioneer would know every person in the room by name. To pay you simply wandered up to cashiers in person, paid cash or by cheque and you took your work of art home. The use of paddles during a sale to indicate an interest in a specific lot is relatively recent and were most likely in use following the return of the auction house to King Street in 1954 after the bombing of King Street during WWII in 1941. This new 'modern' period brought in a new type of buyer at auction. Buyer’s had changed from art dealers to include private individuals who were purchasing items for their home rather than a dealer buying stock for their gallery. Subsequently the auctioneer was less likely to recognise the purchaser. Christie's contemporary paddle-shaped paddles with the Christie's logo on one side and paddle number on the other were introduced in 2014.

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