The Vendue Masters: Tales from Within the Walls of America's Oldest Auction House - Tapa dura

'The Vendue Masters' provides complete access to the archives of Freeman's, America's oldest auction house, marking its 200th anniversary.

On November 12, 1805 Tristram B. Freeman was appointed to the office of auctioneer for the city of Philadelphia. It was at the Merchant's Coffee House that Tristram Freeman first encountered members of the business and maritime communities who gathered there not for refreshment but to cut deals, chew the fat of current affairs, read newspapers and attend auctions. The Vendue Masters marks the 200th anniversary of Freeman's, America's oldest auction house. The archives of this auction house allow us to explore the real life-cycle of the Philadelphia community. Through them we encounter the estranged relationships, the waxing and waning of economic fortune, debtors and creditors, the evolving industrial base, the personalities and the changing faces of taste and fashion. Items that were previously sold at Freeman's include: a Dunlap Declaration of Independence, an entire WWI boom town, Impressionist paintings, four US Navy ships, the Centennial exhibition, a chess-playing Turk, two Canadian provinc