Peregrine Pollen

Peregrine Pollen
Born	24 January 1931 London, England
Died	18 February 2020(2020-02-18) (aged 89)
Occupation	Auctioneer
Employer	Sotheby Parke-Bernet
Spouse	Patricia Helen Barry ​ ​ (m. 1958; div. 1972)​ ​ ​ (m. 1978; died 2016)​
Children	5 (including Arabella Pollen)

Peregrine Michael Hungerford Pollen (24 January 1931 – 18 February 2020) was a prominent English auctioneer who led Parke-Bernet during the 1960s following its acquisition by Sotheby's. He gained recognition for broadening the auction house’s reach across North America and introducing a theatrical element to the auction process.

Early life

Born on 24 January 1931, Pollen was the son of Walter Michael Hungerford Pollen, a steel industry businessman, and Rosalind Frances Pollen (née Benson), whose father was the notable London banker Robert Henry Benson. His grand-uncle was George Holford. He received his education at Eton College before studying modern languages at Christ Church, Oxford, part of the University of Oxford. Prior to his auction career, Pollen held diverse roles including Latin teacher, organist in Australia, warehouse laborer in Los Angeles, gas station attendant, pantry boy on an ocean liner traveling from London to Las Palmas, aluminum factory worker in Kitimat, British Columbia, and attendant at a psychiatric hospital. He fulfilled his national service obligations in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and subsequently served as an aide-de-camp to the Governor of Kenya, Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale, between 1955 and 1957.

Work as auctioneer

Pollen began his career at Sotheby's in 1957, eventually becoming an assistant to the company's chairman, Peter Wilson. In 1960, he was appointed as Sotheby's first representative in New York City. Following Sotheby's acquisition of Parke-Bernet in 1964—then the largest auction house in the United States—Pollen was named head of Sotheby Parke-Bernet. He significantly expanded its presence across North America by establishing locations in Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo. Additionally, he played a key role in launching PB 84, a discount store, in New York City in 1968.

Renowned for his theatrical style as an auctioneer, Pollen introduced dramatic elements to his sales. For instance, during a 1967 auction featuring treasures from the 1715 Treasure Fleet, he arranged for a talking macaw to be present and projected images of the fleet onto the auction room walls. On another occasion, to smuggle Impressionist artworks out of Buenos Aires, he cleverly concealed them behind a Beatles poster. Pollen was also accompanied around the city by a South American caique named Papagoya, which reportedly had an affinity for alcohol. His auction portfolio included notable collections such as that of Helena Rubinstein and artifacts recovered from the 1715 Treasure Fleet. Under his leadership, Parke-Bernet's sales surged dramatically; at the time of its acquisition in 1964, sales totaled $11 million, rising to $23.5 million by 1966 and reaching $38.5 million by 1970.

In 1972, Pollen returned to England upon being appointed vice-chairman of Sotheby's. Holding five percent of the company's shares as its largest private shareholder, he was widely regarded as the anticipated successor to Wilson as chairman. However, after the company experienced financial losses attributed largely to excessive expansion, Gordon Brunton was named chairman following Wilson's retirement. Subsequently, Pollen departed from Sotheby's and retired in 1982.

Personal life and death

Pollen married Patricia Helen Barry in 1958, and together they had three children, including their daughter Arabella Pollen. The couple divorced in 1972, and he remarried in 1978. Patricia Barry passed away in 2016. Residing at Norton Hall in Gloucestershire, Pollen dedicated himself to planting between 6,000 and 8,000 trees and served as a trustee of the Westonbirt Arboretum. He passed away on 18 February 2020.