Bonhams was set up in 1793 when
Thomas Dodd, an antique print dealer, joined with the book specialist Walter Bonham. The company expanded and by the 1850s was handling all categories of antiques including jewellery, porcelain, furniture, arms and armour, and wine. After returning from the war, in the early 1950s, Leonard Bonham purchased some land in Knightsbridge and erected a saleroom on Montpelier Street. The first sale was held in June 1956. In 2000, Bonhams became Bonhams & Brooks when it was acquired by Brooks auction house. Brooks had been founded in 1989 by the former Head of Cars at Christie's, Robert Brooks who specialized in the sale of classic and vintage motorcars. Brooks continued a major acquisition programme aimed at creating a new international fine art auction house. In 2001 Bonhams & Brooks merged with
Phillips Son & Neale to form a new UK company trading as Bonhams. Phillips Son & Neale had been based in 101
New Bond Street, which subsequently became the new headquarters of Bonhams. The building consisted of seven different freeholds and had been described as "a Dickensian rabbit warren". The first of the sites to be acquired was Blenstock House, an
Art Deco building at the junction of Blenheim Street and Woodstock Street, eventually acquiring the complete building in 1974. Acquisition activity continued, and in 2002 Bonhams purchased
Butterfields, a leading auction house in California founded in 1865. Bonhams changed Butterfields' name to Bonhams & Butterfields, and Malcolm Barber, formerly of Brooks, became the chief executive officer of the American subsidiary. Bonhams remained the company's brand name outside of the United States. By the end of 2003 Bonhams was conducting more than 700 annual sales with revenues of $304 million. The company's worldwide network of sales included two major London venues, nine additional UK locations, and salerooms in Australia, Switzerland, Monaco, Germany and the US. Bonhams & Butterfields conducted its first East Coast sale in 2003 with an auction of Edwin C. Jameson's collection of classic cars and antiques in Massachusetts, US. During 2005, Bonhams expanded further with the opening of the Paris office and a new saleroom in New York. In October 2005, Bonhams gained full independence after buying back a 49.9% stake held by French luxury goods conglomerate
LVMH. As part of a phased programme of international expansion, Bonhams opened an office in Hong Kong in 2007. Seven years later, in 2014, it established an East Asian HQ and saleroom in Hong Kong in
One Pacific Place. Bonhams East Asian and Southeast Asian network includes offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei and Singapore. In March 2008, Bonhams New York moved to new salerooms on the corner of
57th Street and
Madison Avenue, formerly the home of the respected
Dahesh Museum of Art. The inaugural sale featured 20th century furniture and decorative arts. In 2013, Bonhams opened its new headquarters at 101 New
Bond Street, designed by
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands; and in 2015 it completed a seven-figure refurbishment of its
Knightsbridge saleroom. In 2016, Bonhams held its first online-only auction; the sale of watches from the collection of a European nobleman. In September 2018, Bonhams was acquired by the UK-based private equity company, Epiris. In January 2022, Bonhams acquired the
Nordic auction house
Bukowskis for an undisclosed sum. in March 2022, Bonhams acquired the US auction house
Skinner Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The new company is called Bonhams Skinner. Also in March 2022, Bonhams acquired the
Danish auction house, Bruun Rasmussen for an undisclosed sum. In October 2025, Bonhams was acquired by Pemberton Asset Management, a UK asset manager. ==Locations==