English Furniture & Works of Art

Contact

• London

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    Peter Horwood

    Director, English Furniture

    Peter Horwood

    Director, English Furniture

    phorwood@christies.com+44 20 7389 2359

    Peter joined Christie's Furniture department in 1996 and has worked on countless auction sales at South Kensington and King Street including noble and country house sales and English and European corporate collections. Highlights include cataloguing the contents of Tyntesfield, Somerset, acquired for the Nation in June 2002 by the National Trust, furniture from the Bank of England in 2004, the superb collection of furniture and works of art of the late Simon Sainsbury sold June 2008 which realised a total of £16,512,000, and The Spencer House sale in July 2010. Peter is Head of sale for The English Collector held twice yearly and catalogues The Exceptional Sale.

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    Orlando Rock

    Chairman, Christie’s UK

    Orlando Rock

    Chairman, Christie’s UK

    orock@christies.com+44 20 7389 2031

    Orlando Rock is Chairman of Christie’s UK. He is recognised as one of the world’s leading specialists in the decorative arts, and has been with Christie's for 25 years.
    
    Orlando works closely with the Chairman’s office teams and the specialist departments. Orlando has travelled extensively around the UK working closely with clients, professional advisors, institutions and those responsible for some of the most important historic houses in the country. Formerly Director and Head of Private Collections and Country House Sales, he was the inspiration behind the highly successful Exceptional Sales, now held annually in both London and New York.
    
    Orlando started at Christie's London in 1990, having graduated with first class Honours in History from the University of Bristol. He transferred to Christie's New York in 1998, where he oversaw many historic sales including those from Houghton, Bute and Longleat, to French furniture from the Alexander and Riahi Collection. In 2002, Orlando returned to London to head the newly-established Private Collection and Country House Sale Department. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of Christie’s UK in 2009, becoming Executive Director of the UK Chairman’s Office the following year. In 2012 Orlando was appointed Deputy Chairman of Christie’s in Europe and the following year, International Head of Decorative Arts - before becoming UK Chairman in 2015.

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    Max Hill

    Sale Coordinator

    Max Hill

    Sale Coordinator

    mhill@christies.com+44 207 752 3337

• New York

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    William Strafford

    Senior International Specialist

    William Strafford

    Senior International Specialist

    wstrafford@christies.com+1 (212) 636 2348

    Will Strafford, Senior International Specialist, European Furniture and Decorative Arts, has been based in New York since 2003 and was head of the European Furniture department from 2003-2012. Prior to that he ran the European Furniture sales in Christie’s King Street from 1999-2002 and worked as a European Furniture specialist in Christie’s New York from 1993-1999. The landmark sales he has worked on include Works of Art from the Wernher Collection (2000), the Collection of the Late Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild (2000, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection (2000), the Doris Duke Collection (2004), the Partridge and Segoura sales (2006) , the Van Cliburn Collection (2012), the Collection of Djahanguir Riahi (2012), the Peggy and David Rockefeller Collection (2018), and the Desmarais Collection (2019). Mr. Strafford has a degree in English and History of Art, and more than thirty years of experience in the auction business.

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    Allison Cox

    Junior Specialist

    Allison Cox

    Junior Specialist

    acox@christies.com+1 (212) 974 4520

    Allison Cox is a junior specialist in English Furniture and Decorative Arts in New York. She holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in History from the Johns Hopkins University where she concentrated on social and cultural histories, as well as material culture studies. She received her master’s degree with distinction in Museum & Artifact Studies from Durham University in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining Christie’s, she was with another international auction house in New York. She is also a member of the Furniture History Society and the Georgian Group.