Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers

Freeman's auction business began when Tristram Bampfylde Freeman auctioned off bales of textiles at the Merchant’s Coffee House in Philadelphia. Freeman, who emigrated from London in 1795, had previously worked as a printer but was unsuccessful in that trade. He instead turned to auctioneering, selling merchandise that arrived through the Philadelphia port as well as local real estate. In 1805, Pennsylvania Governor Thomas McKean appointed him to the official post of auctioneer in Philadelphia, and Freeman formally established his business. For 17 years, he held a monopoly on public auctioneering in the city until the business was opened to competition.

In the 19th century, Freeman's handled real estate and industrial auctions. The company sold not only the contents of schooners but, on occasion, the vessels themselves. After operating at the Merchant’s Coffee House at Second and Chestnut Streets, the business relocated twice more before constructing its purpose-built headquarters at 1810 Chestnut Street in 1923. An early milestone came in the 1880s when Freeman's auctioned the Philadelphia Post Office building for $425,000, then a record price for a piece of real estate sold at auction.

Throughout much of the 20th century, Freeman's business model emphasized high volume. By the 1990s, the house was selling approximately 50,000 lots annually, averaging $110 per lot and generating about $5.5 million in sales. A turning point came when a single fine art auction of only 160 lots achieved the same revenue, prompting the house to shift its focus toward the high-end art market. In 2016, Freeman's was sold to a partnership associated with Lyon & Turnbull. Samuel M. "Beau" Freeman II, the sixth generation of the Freeman family to lead the firm, continued as chairman until his death in June 2017.

In 2019, Freeman's relocated its Philadelphia showroom to 2400 Market Street. Its former Chestnut Street building was subsequently sold to a developer.

Today, Freeman's conducts more than 25 in-house auctions annually across a wide range of categories, including American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts, English and Continental Furniture and Decorative Arts, Asian Arts, American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists, European Art and Old Masters, Modern and Contemporary Art, Books, Maps and Manuscripts, 20th-Century Design, Jewelry and Watches, Silver, and objets de vertu.