Guildford

Wellers of Guildford suffered a fire at its premises but has continued to operate its auction schedule despite disruption to phone lines.

A painting by British colourist Jeffrey Pratt (b.1940) was stolen from a private home in Surrey while the owners were away.

A ‘Moonraker’ laser rifle and letter from Roger Moore are among sales highlights at a James Bond auction in the Midlands as Surrey auction house Ewbank’s prepares for its Bond and Beyond memorabilia sale.

Wellers Fine Art Ltd will continue to hold monthly sales of jewellery and watches in Guildford, despite the liquidation of a separate commercial operation.

THE Wellers Group is reorganising its auction business at both its Guildford and Chertsey salerooms, moving away from fine art in favour of architectural elements and interiors.

In December, Wellers’ Guildford saleroom will offer a seminal suite of furniture by Ambrose Heal (1872-1959) consigned by a member of the family who purchased it at the turn of the 20th century.

THE spectacular and enigmatic spiralling tooth that grows from the upper jaw of the male monodon monoceros, long gave credence to the existence of the unicorn.

SUSPICION that the market for Irish pictures, at least on this side of the Irish Sea, might be in a softer state than it was three or four years ago, were dramatically dispelled at the Guildford rooms of Clarke Gammon Weller (15% buyer’s premium) on September 7 when a rather late, but completely fresh-to-market, canvas by Paul Henry (1876-1958) was offered.

JUNE was a busy month for Wellers (15% buyer's premium) who hosted an 819-lot antique sale on June 12 in addition to a 4000-lot two-day architectural auction held off the premises at Enfield’s Reclaim Centre on June 11-12.

MANY of the top lots among the 725 offered at Clarke Gammon Wellers' (15% buyer's premium) April 20 sale came from the owner of an elegant local flat – including a William IV mahogany longcase.

THE provincial scene is nothing if not surprising. The Guildford Auction Rooms received a call from a firm of London solicitors earlier this year to sell a large cardboard box of jewellery from the estate of Marian Wenzel an academic who taught the history of jewellery design.

UK: Hamptons’ sale of Antiquarian & Modern Books and Maps at 11am on Thursday, February 13 will be a sad occasion both for the auctioneers and local book buyers. For years Thorpe’s of Guildford, under the late Charles Traylen, have been a familiar face at Hamptons auctions, and for much longer local bibliophiles have spent many a happy hour in the first floor barn of a room at the shop.