Tennants is an
auction house
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
based at
Leyburn
Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in the district of Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'Ley ...
in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, England. It claims to be the largest family-owned fine art auctioneers in the United Kingdom. The firm holds some 80 auctions a year and attracts buyers and sellers from around the world. It has twenty-seven specialist departments. Tennants premises include the Garden Rooms, a multi-purpose events and concert venue with a capacity for 640 people.
History
The firm originated in
Middleham
Middleham is an English market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire. It lies in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, on the south side of the valley, upstream from the junction of the River Ure and River Cover. ...
, near Leyburn, where Edmund Tennant (born 1876) was a stonemason, grocer and agricultural merchant. His son Edmund expanded the business into auctioneering. The younger Edmund's sons John and Rodney also became auctioneers, and in 1971 John established himself at Leyburn. By 1988 the business focussed solely on fine art and antiques. In 1993 the current salerooms were opened at Leyburn, and the Garden Rooms were added in 2014.
In 2012 Tennants sold a rare Chinese vase for £2.6 million, a record price at the time.
References
External links
Official site
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British auction houses
Companies based in Richmondshire
Music venues in North Yorkshire
Leyburn