The firm, known for their weekly Wandsworth and Islington sales, have leased Jaggards House, a Grade II-listed Jacobean building in Corsham near Bath, as a headquarters and auction venue. The house, which can cater for 100 people in its saleroom as well as online bidders, is currently being restored.
Criterion’s first auction, on Saturday May 21, will feature some 250 lots, including consignments from a “very well-known” English stately home whose identity is yet to be disclosed.
“High End Sales”
“Our quarterly sales in Wiltshire will be high-end and the antithesis of what we do at our weekly general sales in London,” says Guy Jackson, Criterion’s general manager. “Our London clients have the chance to bring us their higher-value lots, but we’re also based in an affluent area of Wiltshire where people are downsizing and looking to consign.”
Daniel Webster, Criterion’s senior London auctioneer, will host the first sale. A second auction is planned for October.
Criterion are seeking to partner with local businesses including care homes and retirement villages, “to attract the higher end of retirees” for consignments.
Auctioneers in the region include Gardiner Houlgate, Henry Aldridge & Son and Dominic Winter. “There’s plenty of room in the market for everyone,” Jackson says, adding that Jaggards House would “serve as a location where people can imagine the goods in their rightful setting”.
Criterion was founded in 1986 by Graham Richards, who remains the firm’s owner.
