James Christie

James Christie (1730 to 1803) was a Scottish auctioneer who founded the London auction house Christie's. Born in Perth, he held his first sale on 5 December 1766 in rooms at Pall Mall that had been the print warehouse of Richard Dalton, and the exhibitions of the Royal Academy of Arts were held on those premises until 1779. He later moved next door to the painter Thomas Gainsborough in Schomberg House, and was described as tall and as a friend of David Garrick, Joshua Reynolds and Gainsborough. Christie's Great Rooms handled some of the most important sales of the late eighteenth century. He married twice and had four sons, of whom the eldest, James Christie the Younger, succeeded him in the business. He died at his house in Pall Mall on 8 November 1803, aged 73, and was buried at St James's burial ground off Hampstead Road in Camden, London.