George Squibb (c. 1764 – 1831) was a British

auctioneer An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ...

, succeeding his father James, who founded the

auction house An auction house is a business establishment that facilitates the buying and selling of assets, such as works of art and collectibles. Overview The auction house is the physical facility where the objects are catalogued, displayed, and presented ...

of Squibb & Son, and working from public rooms in Boyle Street, facing down

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

, London, where the elder Squibb had set up in 1778. The grand rooms had been built in the 1730s, at the time Lord Burlington was developing the second phase of his real estate venture at the end of

Burlington House Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private English Baroque and then Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earl of Burlington, Earls of Burlington. It was significantly expanded in the mid-19th cent ...

gardens; they were extended by Squibb with a top-lit auction room. In 1813 he sold the collection of paintings of the late Duke of San Pietro. Among the country house auctions that fell under his hammer was that of the contents of Streatham Park, sold for Hester Thrale Piozzi in May 1816. Among those associated with Squibb was Michael Bryan, the connoisseur and author of the ''Dictionary of Painters'' When not used as an auction venue, the large room Squibb added to the premises might be temporarily converted to a theatre, as

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

noted in 1790: George Squibb's son Francis succeeded him briefly in the family business, but died prematurely in 1833."In Saville-row, aged 44, Fran. Squibb, esq. the celebrated auctioneer" (obituary in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'', December 1833:553); th
will of Francis Squibb, Auctioneer of Saint James Westminster, Middlesex
of 23 December 1833, is conserved by The National Archives, Kew. The firm's successors were Rushworth, Abbott & Co.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Squibb, George 1760s births 1831 deaths British auctioneers