Meet The Specialist

What is your current position at Bonhams?

I am the Managing Director of our Knightsbridge Salerooms, where I am also an Auctioneer and Specialist for our Collectors’ sales. These auctions include Popular Culture, Scientific Instruments and Marine Works of Art, with items dating from the Renaissance to the modern day.

Our next sale, Instruments of Science & Technology, takes place on 15 September.

Where are you from? And what inspired you to go into the art world?

I was born and bred in London. Although I read Engineering at University, I decided that it was not the career for me and instead took a short-term summer job at Sotheby’s Belgravia. Little did I know, I would fall in love with the auction business and never leave!

What was your first job?

Initially, I was taken on as the ‘silver cleaner and teaboy’ but, being so useless at making tea, I was quickly promoted to Departmental Administrator in the Furniture & Works of Art department. Since all my colleagues were Art History graduates, if anything remotely scientific or engineering-related came in for appraisal I was first in line to handle it. It was a steep and exciting learning curve.

 Name one of your triumphs.

One of my favourite pieces I’ve handled during my career was in 2019 when I consigned the masterpiece and larger-than-life kinetic sculpture created by Rowland Emett, A Quiet Afternoon in the Cloud Cuckoo Valley. Filling the main gallery of our New Bond Street saleroom from top to bottom, it brought a vast audience of enthusiastic people to Bonhams to view it during its three-week exhibition. Shortly before the sale was due to take place, the piece was sold privately for a substantial six-figure sum to the National Railway Museum, where it is due to be installed in a learning centre to introduce children to science. The whole project was a total success in so many ways and was a joy to work on from beginning to end.

What has changed in your area of the business since you first started?

Back in the day, bigger auction houses at the forefront of the industry tended to be organised in a slightly haphazard way and were mainly run by a certain calibre of person: as a result, the auction room was not always the most inviting or welcoming place for everyone. Today, however, all the major international auction houses are run by highly professional and diverse managers, which is a truly positive change for all who work in the business. Gone are the days of auction houses being stiff and austere - instead they now thrive on innovation and modernism, and as such we engage with a much wider range of clientele of all ages, from all over the world. To see this change first-hand over the years has been both exciting and rewarding.

What is your strength as a specialist?

Collecting is a strong passion of mine; sharing this emotion and enthusiasm with both vendors and buyers is key to putting together great auctions and achieving strong hammer sales.

Do you have a hidden talent?

I am a qualified PADI scuba diver. I initially trained as a diver so that I could appraise shipwreck artifacts off the Cape Verde Islands. This subsequently led to a passion for exploring underwater marine life, and many holidays have been spent bobbing around various ocean reefs.

What's exciting about your next sale?

Our next sale of Instruments of Science and Technology includes two distinguished single-owner collections: The Stephen Edell Collection of Globes and The Dr MacKinnon Collection of Microscopes. I helped, in part, to build both of these collections during my career. It is an honour to be entrusted to offer such collections at auction, and to have worked with both collectors over so many years.

Which moment has changed your life?

Without a doubt, the most important moment during my career was when I took my first auction as a 25-year-old novice. After the initial nerves died down, I soon got the hang of the standard increments and reserves (which were encrypted in an alphabetic code, no less) and I relaxed into the sale. The more sales I took, the more I enjoyed the whole drama and experience of being an Auctioneer. From that moment I knew I had found my niche, and the theatre of the saleroom still excites me today. One of my favourite ever sales was The Eric Clapton Collection of Guitars and Amplifiers in New York in 2011. Being a huge Clapton fan myself, it was a privilege to actually meet him in person and then take the sale, which was a roaring success!

Jon's next auction is Instruments of Science & Technology on 15 September, in Knightsbridge, London.