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Private & Iconic Collections

Since 1766, Christie’s has sold many of the most important private and iconic collections in history, including eight of the top ten most valuable collections to ever come to the market. Christie’s excels at celebrating collections and telling their stories – showcasing each owner’s unique style and eclectic taste to inspire a new generation of collectors. Collections give unparalleled insight into the private lives of a fascinating and broad array of figures, be they rockstars, scions of politics and business, famous dancers, renowned decorators, trailblazing art dealers or fashion icons. Stars of the silver screen, music and fashion whose collections Christie’s have handled – each unique and inimitable – include: Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe; George Michael, Mark Knopfler, Donna Summer and David Gilmour; Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Coco Chanel and Vivienne Westwood. The collections of titans of industry such as Paul G. Allen, the Rockefellers and Ann and Gordon Getty have shattered world records and raised billions for charitable causes around the world. Christie’s leads in celebrating the legacies of important royal, aristocratic and political figures, with landmark sales from the historic collections of H.R.H. The Princess Margaret, the Earls Spencer, Houghton, Hackwood and Harewood, as well as Anthony Eden, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, among many others. And we excel at showcasing the aesthetic and creative vision of influential tastemakers and designers including Alberto Pinto, Michael S. Smith, Jasper Conran and Robert Kime. Christie’s is the only major auction house with a global team dedicated to the staging of Private & Iconic Collections. Unrivalled in experience and expertise, we are here to advise on how best to position your collection for sale at auction. Please contact us now for a free and confidential valuation.
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Our specialists are currently preparing our next Private & Iconic Collections auctions. In the meantime, browse results from past auctions.

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  • Zita Gibson

    Zita Gibson

    Senior Director, Head of Business Development

    +44 (0) 20 7389 2488
    zgibson@christies.com

    London

    Zita is Head of Estates, Appraisals & Valuations and Private & Iconic Collections, having joined Christie’s in 2007 following an MA in Classics at Trinity College, Oxford University and an MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has orchestrated and overseen many multi-category proposals, pitches and collection sales, acting as the main liaison between vendors and the business throughout the valuation and sale process.

    Most recent highlights include The Roger Federer Collection (2021), Julians Park and Six Private Collections (2021), The Collection of Mrs Henry Ford II (2021), Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler (2020), The George Michael Collection (2019), An Adventurous Spirit: An Important Private Collection Sold to Benefit a Charitable Foundation (2018/2019), Old Masters/New Scholars: Works of Art Sold to Benefit Rugby School (2018), Thomas Chippendale 300 Years (2018), The Collection of Raine Countess Spencer (2017), and Christie’s 250th Anniversary Defining British Art Auction and Loan Exhibition (2016).
  • Amelia Walker

    Amelia Walker

    Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections

    +44 20 7389 2085
    awalker@christies.com

    London

    Amelia Walker is a Director of Christie’s and Specialist Head of the Private & Iconic Collections department, with over 17 years of experience in the organisation and sale of multi-category private, iconic and country house collections. Amelia is interested in all aspects of collecting, both ‘fine’ and decorative art, from antiquity to the contemporary, and specialises primarily in English and European furniture and works of art. Since joining in 2006, Christie's has sold countless landmark royal, aristocratic, iconic and connoisseur collections including those of Princess Margaret, the Earl Spencer, Sting, Audrey Hepburn, Margaret Thatcher, Roger Federer, Charlie Watts, the Rothschild family, and many more. Amelia has had privileged access to some of the world's most wonderful works of art and loves nothing more than meeting collectors, researching and valuing their collections and unearthing the provenance and story behind each object, painting, or piece of memorabilia.
  • Adrian Hume-Sayer

    Adrian Hume-Sayer

    Director, Specialist

    London

    A Director of the Private Collections and Country House Sales department, Adrian specialises in furniture and works of art. Since joining the department in 2010 Adrian has been responsible for a number of notable collection sales including: Harewood, Collecting in the Royal Tradition, The Collection of Professor Sir Albert Richardson, and Works of Art from the Collection of the Marquesses of Londonderry as well as orchestrating the sales of the personal collections of Margaret Thatcher and Audrey Hepburn. Training as an auctioneer at the age of twenty-one, Adrian initially worked at Tennant’s Auctioneers in his native North Yorkshire before moving to Bonham’s in 2003 and joining Christie’s in 2009. With a particularly strong interest in all types of English furniture and works of art, Adrian sits on the Council of the Furniture History Society as well as on the Selection Committee for the Attingham Summer School. Adrian also has a strong interest in Architectural history.
  • Charlotte Young

    Charlotte Young

    Associate Director, Specialist

    +44 (0)20 7389 2730
    cyoung@christies.com

    London

    Charlotte joined Christie’s in 2008 after graduating from the University of Bristol with an BA in History. She began her career as a furniture specialist at Christie’s South Kensington, before moving to Private Collections in January 2014 where she has been responsible for, and contributed to a wide variety of collection sales. Highlights have been the superb collection of French furniture offered in Tastes of the Royal Court (2015) which included a record-breaking fauteuil en bergere supplied to Queen Marie Antoinette; Queen Anne’s Gate: Works from the Art Collection of Sting and Trudie Styler (2016); and more recently working with the internationally acclaimed interior designer Michael Smith on the sales ‘Rooms as Portraits’ (2018).

    Whilst her main interest remains English and European furniture and works of art and the interiors in which they sit, she relishes the opportunity that Collection sales offer to learn about collecting fields beyond the traditional Decorative Arts and to see the juxtapositions each collector creates between differing fields within their own collections.
  • Benedict Winter

    Benedict Winter

    Associate Director, Specialist

    London

    Benedict joined Christie’s in 2015 following a degree in History of Art at the University of York, and previous experience at several London galleries, the National Trust and a New York art advisory. Previously part of the Interiors department, he re-joined the Private Collections department in 2020. Benedict has handled many private collections in Interiors including Property from Faringdon House, Oxfordshire, the Collection of the Late Mrs Marcella Rossi, Property from the Collection of the late Leonard and Roxanne Rosoman. He has also overseen several single owner sales including Seward Kennedy’s Cabinet of Curiosities in 2016 and Peter Petrou: Tales of the Unexpected in 2019, as well as assisting on Iconic sales such as the Margaret Thatcher, Audrey Hepburn and Raine, Countess Spencer auctions.
  • Elizabeth Comba

    Elizabeth Comba

    Specialist

    +44 (0) 20 7389 2254
    ecomba@christies.com

    London

    Elizabeth is a Specialist in the Private & Iconic Collections department. With extensive experience as a Picture Specialist across many categories and at all levels of the market, she first joined Christie’s in 2012. Initially in the Modern British & Irish Art department, in 2013 she became Junior Specialist in 20th Century Decorative Art & Design at Christie’s South Kensington. Following a seven-year period spent working as a Picture Specialist at Roseberys, and later Portland Gallery, she re-joined Christie’s in 2021. Elizabeth holds a First Class Honours degree in History of Art from the University of Manchester and a MA from Courtauld Institute of Art.

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