Excerpts from 1,700 word article, pictures available

CHRISTIE'S AUCTIONS PROVIDE HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDS

"Lot 149, attributed to Bullock. Thirty thousand, thirty five thousand, forty, fifty thousand on the left .... 84, 86, 88, 90, 95, ... a hundred thousand pounds. One hundred thousand pounds. Any more? One hundred thousand." Bang goes the gavel. "There. Thank you very much." A porter brings on lot 150.

It is an exciting first day at Oxfordshire's Great Tew Park, a decaying 4,000 acre estate dating to the late seventeenth century where house contents are under the hammer to pay a million pounds' tax bill. An important sale, it is expected to raise the required amount handily, and in fact fetches half a million within 30 minutes. Three days later when the last of 1,555 lots is sold, over £2½ million have been realized. Some buyers paid ten times the estimated value of their purchases, and still they celebrated their good fortune with champagne drinkies on the lawn.

Welcome to a Christie's estate sale: big business for the auction house, a sad business for those forced to part with family treasures, serious business for dealers speculating on profitable re-sales. And for the rest of us an enjoyable country outing from which we might come away with an interesting souvenir or two.....

Charity sales can be particularly exciting when celebrities attend. One scheduled soon after my visit was to raise money for the Aids Crisis Trust. It included 15 designer dresses modelled by Koo Stark, Jerry Hall and Bianca Jagger. Rudolf Nureyev had donated ballet slippers, Elizabeth Taylor had sent along a diamond ring. Furniture, wine, porcelain and silver, and modern and contemporary paintings were donated for the cause. Admission by catalogue (£25) included a two-hour hours' champagne reception. Not bad for a star studded evening in London.....

IF YOU GO: Information on future sales is available from any Christie's office. In London, showrooms are at 8 King Street, St James', London SW1Y 6QT, tel (0171) 8399060 and 85 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London SW7 3LD, tel (0171) 5817611.