Exhibitions of charity

FROM 1915 to 1918, and again during the Second World War, Christie’s held charity auctions of objects donated by individuals to benefit the Red Cross. The earlier series raised more than £320,000, perhaps equivalent to £17 million today, and attracted buyers, as well as donors, from across the social spectrum. A caricature by Max Beerbohm of one in April 1918 shows the rooms packed, but largely lacking ladies. This is odd, as a photograph of a Red Cross sale in progress shows as many female bidders as males—especially seated at the