Sotheby's
auction house
Sotheby's ( SUDH-ə-beez) is a British multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's oldest and largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK.
Sotheby's was established on 11 March 1744 in London by Samuel Baker, a bookseller. In 1767, the firm became Baker & Leigh, after George Leigh became a partner, and was renamed to Leigh and Sotheby in 1778 after Baker's death when his nephew, John Sotheby, inherited Baker's share. Other former names include: Leigh, Sotheby and Wilkinson; Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge (1864–1924); Sotheby and Company (1924–83); Mssrs Sotheby; Sotheby & Wilkinson; Sotheby Mak van Waay; and Sotheby's & Co.
The American holding company was initially incorporated in August 1983 in Michigan as Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. In June 2006, it was reincorporated in the State of Delaware and was renamed Sotheby's. In June 2019, Sotheby's was acquired by French-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi at a 61% market premium.
Sotheby's Institute of Art (an educational facility), Sotheby's International Realty (real estate dealers), and RM Sotheby's (classic car dealers) are subsidiaries or partner organisations.
History
Beginnings (18th and 19th century)
Sotheby's was established on 11 March 1744 in London by Samuel Baker, a bookseller.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Sotheby's” is auction house. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Sotheby's, auction and house, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “auction house” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q654762. VIAF identifies the subject as 797145858160823022490. The Library of Congress control number is n84160976. Authority coordinates are 40.766, -73.954. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1744, 1767, 1778 and 1864.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sotheby's” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.