Mighty giants brought down to earth by quirky Japanese

I can't believe they did research just to play rock, scissors & stone!

Wonder if the poor Sotheby's executive got fired for suggesting 'paper' as their strategy. If I were Sotheby's I would have claimed foul immediately and demanded for it to be decided in three rounds instead. The odds may have been better?

Rock, Paper, Scissors pays off for Christie's
Time is GMT + 8 hours (www.todayonline.com)
Posted: 30-Apr-2005 05:48 hrs

Christie's auction house has won the right to sell off a 20-million-dollar art collection by beating rival Sotheby's in the child's game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors," a Christie's executive said.

Japanese art collector Tashi Hashiyama was unable to decide which of the prestigious auction houses should handle his collection, which featured works by Picasso, Van Gogh and Cezanne, and had them play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to decide, Nicholas Maclean said.

"The way in which collections are won sometimes rest on the tiniest little decision, and the owner of this collection could not decide between the two big houses," said Maclean, Christie's international director for Impressionist and Modern Art.

"In Japan it is not uncommon that a decision will be made where this game will be played," he said. "When (Hashiyama) mentioned this, we were not surprised. We've heard this before and we took it very seriously and we started researching."

Representatives of each firm wrote their choice on a piece of paper instead of playing in the traditional fashion, with hands.

Maclean said Christie's decided to play the eventual winner -- "scissors" -- after doing some research.

"A lady in Japan did her own research and she independently came with the idea that scissors should be the way we should go," he said. "I spoke to my own children and they also felt that that was the way.

"So, between us we decided to go with scissors."

Sotheby's executive vice president Charles Moffet declined to discuss the unusual selection process.

"I don't discuss our negotiations or relationships with clients," he said. — AFP Christie's auction house has won the right to sell off a 20-million-dollar art collection by beating rival Sotheby's in the child's game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors," a Christie's executive said.

Japanese art collector Tashi Hashiyama was unable to decide which of the prestigious auction houses should handle his collection, which featured works by Picasso, Van Gogh and Cezanne, and had them play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to decide, Nicholas Maclean said.

"The way in which collections are won sometimes rest on the tiniest little decision, and the owner of this collection could not decide between the two big houses," said Maclean, Christie's international director for Impressionist and Modern Art.

"In Japan it is not uncommon that a decision will be made where this game will be played," he said. "When (Hashiyama) mentioned this, we were not surprised. We've heard this before and we took it very seriously and we started researching."

Representatives of each firm wrote their choice on a piece of paper instead of playing in the traditional fashion, with hands.

Maclean said Christie's decided to play the eventual winner -- "scissors" -- after doing some research.

"A lady in Japan did her own research and she independently came with the idea that scissors should be the way we should go," he said. "I spoke to my own children and they also felt that that was the way.

"So, between us we decided to go with scissors."

Sotheby's executive vice president Charles Moffet declined to discuss the unusual selection process.

"I don't discuss our negotiations or relationships with clients," he said. — AFP