The collection of Mr Marcus Linell,
We are delighted to offer items from the collection of Mr Marcus Linell, who was the Senior director of Asian art at Sotheby’s London.
He joined Sotheby’s in Bond Street in 1956 as a porter numbering the porcelain and glass sales which led on to writing catalogue descriptions and in due course putting catalogues together. In 1960 he started a new Chinese department which prospered with Julian Thompson as his number two. By 1963 Sotheby's took over Parke Bernet Galleries in New York and Marcus joined as head of Decorative Arts. Eventually, he returned back to London to their new Belgravia saleroom with the objective of making 19th-century works of art a mainline subject, with expertise to match that of the 18th century. Finally back to where it all started at Bond Street to look after the specialist departments. At that moment the extraordinary sale of the contents of Mentmore Towers became a reality and Marcus was asked to run it. It was an amazing success and indirectly led on to important continental house sales, first at Regensburg then at Baden Baden and thereafter for the Hanovers, all of which were overseen by Marcus.
With a career at Sotheby's spanning over six decades, Mr. Linell was in a prime position to acquire fine art and antiques from a variety of sources. All of these items were displayed in his beautiful family home in Hampstead which was recently sold by Goldschmidt & Howland estate agents.
Now retired and downsizing from his Hampstead home, it is time to share some of his collection with new owners.
