The firm's last 'bricks and mortar' sale of jewellery and antiques at the Bedford Road premises was held on February 11, with remaining consignments to be sold in an online-only auction ending on March 9.
Nine staff members will be made redundant - although some will be offered part-time valuation work at the firm's offices in Milton Keynes and Chertsey.
Although missed at the cataloguing stage, this 13½in (35cm) Vincennes dish c.1753, once part of the Louis XV Service, established the house record for Wellers in November 2013. Terry Wright, one of Wellers’ longest-serving auctioneers, was on the rostrum when the dish – estimated at just £70-90 – was sold to Voltaire Antiquites Vandermeersch of Paris for £70,000.
In 2013 the Wellers Group (historically linked to the Surrey livestock markets) invested heavily in the Guildford fine art saleroom, creating a mezzanine floor to increase the number of sales held there.
However, in 2014 the business was reorganised. There was an increased focus on 'trade and retail' sales in Milton Keynes and on-site sales of architectural fittings and garden statuary run from Chertsey where Wellers have had premises since 2000.
By September, Jane Brown, former director of fine art at Guildford, had left the company and (with Justin Fryer, Lin Fan and several former Wellers staff) set up new firm Fryer & Brown in nearby Cobham.
Alison Glenn, head of jewellery and manager of the saleroom at Guildford, told ATG the underlying reason for closure was the low level of good quality consignments, but said that the end of the current lease on the building had forced the issue.
She added that all consignors will be paid.
