Thais Hitchins
Junior Specialist | Science & Natural History
Groundbreakers: Icons of our Time
Sale Overview
Christie’s is excited to present Groundbreakers: Icons of our Time, a new auction offering a curated selection of works that reflect the groundbreaking discoveries and achievements of the 20th and 21st centuries. Spanning natural history, cinema, music, literature, fashion, sport and technology, Groundbreakers celebrates the best of human endeavour and showcases cultural touchstones of the modern era.
Leading with the remarkable Spike, marking the debut of the iconic Caenagnathid at auction, offered works range from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Merton College desk to early letters by Ayrton Senna, which offer unparalleled insight into the mind of Formula 1’s greatest driver. Further highlights include the 1931 annotated draft of the London Underground, the original artwork for the first edition of Warhammer, and the first edition of Turing’s On Computable Numbers — with further groundbreaking treasures to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Auction times
11 Dec 04:00 PM (GMT)
Our specialist’s selection
Brought to you by
James Hyslop
Head of Department, Science & Natural History | Science & Natural History
James has been Christie’s specialist for Science & Natural History since 2007, and head of Department since 2012.
His first auction at Christie’s was the highly successful pair of Blaeu globes sold in Amsterdam in 2008 for a world record price (€793,850). Other early highlights include the silver armillary sphere in the Yves Saint Laurent sale (€781,000) and the silver simple microscope by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in 2009 (£313,250). James’ strong personal interest in Geology has resulted in the growth of Natural History sales over the years culminating in the world record price for a Dinosaur with STAN in October 2020 ($31,847,500). With the advent of online sales, he was the first to launch dedicated history of science and technology sales, in June 2013 an Apple-1 personal computer sold for $387,750 in the sale First Bytes: Iconic Technology from the Twentieth Century, followed by a world record price for an enigma machine in November 2014 Code Breakers: Enigmas and Other Cipher Machines for $365,000. Recent sales of note include a record price for a meteorite at auction (£525,000) in the Exceptional sale 8 July 2021 and a world record for a dinosaur skull (£500,000) in 12-26 October 2021 online auction.
A graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, James speaks English and French; he previously worked for a UK science museum and has sat on the committee of the Scientific Instrument Society.
His first auction at Christie’s was the highly successful pair of Blaeu globes sold in Amsterdam in 2008 for a world record price (€793,850). Other early highlights include the silver armillary sphere in the Yves Saint Laurent sale (€781,000) and the silver simple microscope by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in 2009 (£313,250). James’ strong personal interest in Geology has resulted in the growth of Natural History sales over the years culminating in the world record price for a Dinosaur with STAN in October 2020 ($31,847,500). With the advent of online sales, he was the first to launch dedicated history of science and technology sales, in June 2013 an Apple-1 personal computer sold for $387,750 in the sale First Bytes: Iconic Technology from the Twentieth Century, followed by a world record price for an enigma machine in November 2014 Code Breakers: Enigmas and Other Cipher Machines for $365,000. Recent sales of note include a record price for a meteorite at auction (£525,000) in the Exceptional sale 8 July 2021 and a world record for a dinosaur skull (£500,000) in 12-26 October 2021 online auction.
A graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, James speaks English and French; he previously worked for a UK science museum and has sat on the committee of the Scientific Instrument Society.
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