Gorringes, Lewes, England

The leading fine art and antiques auction house in the South East - Gorringes auctioneers Thinking of buying or selling at auction house? Or are you simply interested in a free valuation? At Gorringes auction house, we can offer you the best advice on buying or selling antiques. Since opening our auction rooms in Lewes in Sussex in the 1920s, Gorringes have built a reputation for ensuring a professional, reliable and prompt service to all our clients. Now the leading auction house in the South East, we cover East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent, from Worthing and Brighton to Lewes, Eastbourne, Bexhill and Tunbridge Wells. Our team of antiques and fine art valuers are able to offer free appraisal service and will advise on all aspects of buying and selling at auction – just pop into one of our salerooms at Worthing, Bexhill or Lewes, or to our office in Tunbridge Wells. Gorringes antiques auctioneers can also arrange a home visit too. Gorringes auctioneers hold over 70 sales a year of antiques and fine art, featuring ceramics, works of art, silver, jewellery, furniture and pictures. Our auction rooms in the South East, also hold regular specialist sales of stamps, coins, medals, toys, books, automobilia, wine, pop and film memorabilia, as well as twice-yearly Connoisseur Auctions of higher-value antiques, works of art and pictures. If you are interested in buying or selling through a trusted auction house in the South East, with over 70 years’ experience, or would like to find out more about our obtaining valuations for insurance, probate, inheritance tax or private treaty, please feel free to contact Gorringes auctioneers or to visit one of our salerooms or offices based at Lewes, Worthing, Bexhill and Tunbridge Wells. History of Gorringes The business commenced in the early 1920s when Rowland Gorringe opened offices in Lewes, the county town of East Sussex, as an estate agent and auctioneer. He held many sales in properties in Lewes and it's environs, most famously being instructed to sell the contents of Lewes House, a collection built by the American art connoisseur and collector Edward Percy Warren.This sale created international interest as, in addition to a remarkable collection of early furniture and works of art, it included the major works - Auguste Rodin's 'The Kiss' ('Le Baiser') and 'The Portrayal of Adam and Eve' by Lucas Cranach The Elder. This sale was certainly the talk of the county and was followed by a series of instructions to sell country house contents. In 1945, Rowland Gorringe was instructed to sell a country house and contents, north of Lewes, known as Roeheath. After the successful sale and with the property unsold, he received the instructions to sell several property contents which were brought together for a collective sale again at Roeheath. Up until this time, collective sales had been regularly held at Wallands House in Lewes, the last sale there taking place in September 1945. Just after the war in 1946 Gorringes moved to its current site at 15 North Street in Lewes. 1994 Bexhill. Gorringes acquires Fryer's Auction Galleries in Bexhill-on-Sea. The impressive former railway station premises isideal for the auction gallery business and the saleroom is now established also as a valuations office and long term storage facility, serving Bexhill-on-Sea, Hastings, Rye and villages to the north and east. 1998 Lewes. As the number of vendors increases with every sale we commission the building of a new gallery at our North Street saleroom to display the antiques in a more decorative fashion, enabling our many purchasers to view them in a less crowded environment. 1998 Tunbridge Wells. December sees the completion of the refurbishment of our new premises at 15, The Pantiles, where our bookshop - which opened on 4th January 1999 - carries an extensive stock of reference works on fine and applied art, collectables and antiques. The bookshop is open Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm and Saturdays, 9.30am to 5.00pm. 1999 Lewes. A new picture gallery opens in time for our January sale. With its excellent lighting it has proved extremely popular with our clients at our North Street saleroom for the viewing of both pictures and jewellery. 2001 Lewes. Gorringes Incorporating Julian Dawson formed by a merger with Lewes Auction Rooms, the other established auction rooms in Lewes. The new partnership operates from 2 salerooms with regular Antiques and Fine Art catalogued auctions at North Street and weekly Antiques, Collectables and Household auctions at Garden Street. Julian Dawson continues as a partner and continues to play an active role, exercising his considerable auctioneering talents on the rostrum every Monday. This merger enables Gorringes Incorporating Julian Dawson to offer clients a complete clearance service. 2002 Gorringes are pronounced the winners of the prestigious B.A.C.A. Award for the Best Provincial Auction Rooms 2003 Worthing Gorringes In Association With Michael Jones & Co. formed as a separate company, establishing a saleroom in West Sussex. Trading began Ist May 2003 at 44/46 High Street, Worthing following the retirement of Ken Ellis of R H Ellis & Sons. The association with Michael Jones & Company, Wothing's leading independant estate agents provides an attractive proposition for executors and owners of property and chattels to deal under one umbrella with experienced professionals. The 4 salerooms now handle over 70,000 lots a year which attracting tens of thousands of viewers in person or over the Internet. These lots are gathered from all over the south east of England and London and with a turnover surpassing £9,000.000 in 2005 we are now positioned as the leading provincial auctioneers in the UK. March 2005 Gorringes pioneer internet selling on Ebay with all catalogued sales listed and illustrated on the internet as well as being hosted on the Ebay.com website which can be accessed by up to 192 million internet users worldwide. Clients are able to bid live over the internet on these sales. In the saleroom all lots are shown on screen showing the internet activity. April 2006 Gorringes convert to a Limited Liability Partnership. 2006 Gorringes announce plans to build a regional auction centre at Cooksbridge, near Lewes. More details to follow.