Few people know the auction world quite like Philip Taubenheim. Faye Hatcher spoke to the respected auctioneer and valuer about a career devoted to fine art, antiques and the ever-changing business of selling under the hammer at Wotton Auction Rooms.
After more than four decades in the business, he remains as passionate as ever about the profession that has shaped his life.
“We’re very busy as ever,” he says with a smile. “And thankfully, fine and healthy.”
Philip’s introduction to the auction world came long before he stepped onto the rostrum.
In the video below, Philip talks to Faye about his extraordinary career, the changing face of auctioneering and the future of Wotton Auction Rooms.
“My parents were book dealers in Burford and bought a lot of their stock from auction rooms around the Cotswolds,” he recalls. “When I was about to leave school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. I wasn’t particularly academic.”
The answer arrived in an unlikely form – a copy of the Yellow Pages.
“My mother brought it in and said, ‘Start with that. Everybody in there is making a living somehow.’ We started at A for Accountancy and worked through. Fortunately, auctions begin with A. If it had started with C, I probably wouldn’t have got there.”
A summer job at a local auction house quickly became something much more permanent.
“I started as a junior porter at about 17 and thought, ‘This isn’t bad.’ And here we are.”
Remarkably, Philip never felt the urge to pursue another career.
“I was just pleased I’d found one thing I could do tolerably well. This has been it.”
Since joining Wotton Auction Rooms in the 1980s, he has witnessed dramatic growth in the business.
“When I came here, we had a much smaller sale room and every six weeks we’d sell around 400 lots. Now we hold sales every five weeks and regularly sell around 2,000 lots.”
The biggest change, however, has been the arrival of the internet.
“It has absolutely changed everything.”
Philip remembers a time when auction rooms were packed with bidders competing for the same items.
“When I first started, you’d have 200 or 300 people standing in front of you all fighting over the same pieces of furniture. Now I can be selling books on a wet November evening, look up from the rostrum and there’s nobody in the room at all. It’s just me and the clock.”
Yet despite the empty seats, bidding continues online from around the country and beyond.
“Everything’s selling. It’s remarkable.”
While he misses the buzz of crowded salerooms, Philip believes modern auctioneering still requires performance and personality.
“People watching online want a bit of a show. There are some fairly dull auctioneers out there – I won’t name names – but you’ve got to put a bit of style into it.”
Even when bidding slows, enthusiasm remains essential.
“The person you’re working for is probably watching online. If you’re constantly dull and dreary, that doesn’t help. You’ve got to be lively. It’s all a bit of showmanship.”
Behind the scenes, however, the role involves much more than wielding a gavel.
“People see me on the rostrum and think I only work when the sales are on,” he laughs.
In reality, every auction tells a story.
The team works with hundreds of clients every month, often during significant moments in their lives.
“Sometimes you’re helping families after the loss of a parent. Sometimes it’s a house clearance, someone moving into care, a divorce or people simply raising funds.”
As a result, empathy is just as important as expertise.
“It’s a little bit of auctioneering, but an awful lot of social work, actually.”
Looking ahead, Philip is confident about the future of Wotton Auction Rooms. With colleague Joseph Trinder now sharing the business, he believes the foundations are in place for continued success.
“Succession is always the challenge for a small country business. Joseph coming on board gives us future, gives us hope and gives us continuity.”
For a man whose career has been spent preserving and valuing the past, it is fitting that he is also helping secure the future.
“It will live on,” Philip says. “It will live on and thrive.”
For more information on Wotton Auction Rooms, click HERE
