HISTORY OF THE GALLERY

Of ancestry, antiques and art

George R. Gardner held his first auction in London, Ontario in 1922. One of his early sales was selling horses for the City of London when they switched from horse-drawn to gas-powered trucks. Some of his major sales include "Tecumseh House", at one time the largest hotel in the British Commonwealth, and the contents of many of London's finest homes.

 

Shortly after serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II, George’s son, Jason, became his partner in the business. When George Gardner passed away unexpectedly in 1952, Jason carried on as auctioneer and appraiser. He purchased his first permanent auction house at 2 Langarth Street West, London in 1960. He sold for Fyfe's of Edinburgh throughout Canada, and made international headlines when he was hired by a Toronto syndicate to auction antiques from Castro's Cuba.

Throughout the decade, Jason held regular estate sales, but he also auctioned real estate, cars, factories, bankruptcies, and even the contents of London's old city hall. In 1971, the building at 186 York Street was purchased, an historic building in the heart of downtown London directly across from the Via Rail Station. With over twenty-five thousand square feet on five levels and two salerooms, the new location became the largest auction house in Southwestern Ontario. Only the second owners since construction in 1908, the Gardners preserved the rare terra cotta exterior and most of the original interior. Modern updates include air conditioning, state of the art alarms, wireless Internet and new restrooms.

Jason's son Grant joined the firm in 1975. Grant's first contribution was to change the direction of the company from a general auction firm to one specializing in the sale of antiques, art and estate chattels. From this point on, Jason and Grant devoted all their time and energy to this one segment of the auction industry.

By 1999, the York Street building was operating at full capacity with at least one auction per week of general estate goods in addition to specialty and catalogued fine art sales. The building at 401 Hamilton Road was purchased and quickly became London's busiest auction centre. Once a Loblaw’s supermarket just five minutes from downtown London with its own parking lot, this twelve thousand square foot art deco-style building now hosts weekly auctions on Tuesday evenings. These auctions have become a regular attraction for dealers, collectors and the general public from throughout Southwestern Ontario.

James and Mark, Grant's sons, have joined the firm along with Brent Patroch, Jason's grandson. Mark, James and Brent have all graduated from Reppert's School of Auctioneering located in Auburn, Indiana.

Now well into the twenty-first century, Gardner Galleries have conducted thousands of successful auctions including the contents of 'Castle Kilbride' in Baden, Ontario, the Law Estate Collections of Toronto whose antiques realized one million dollars, Marjorie Blackburn’s Estate of Canadian art including seven A.Y. Jacksons, an Arthur Elsley painting from a private collection that fetched $350,000, Florence Carlyle painting which sold for a record $115,000, the Dow Canada Art Collection and many more.

Jason Gardner passed away in 2008 after a career of over sixty years as an auctioneer and appraiser. Jason's vision, honesty, knowledge and skill allowed the firm to be one of the very few family businesses to reach the fourth generation.

One of the leading auction houses in Canada, Gardner Galleries combine years of experience, two locations, and four licensed auctioneers to give clients fast, efficient and quality service with proven results.