An antiques shop in Bradford on Avon has closed after 46 years with its owner selling off his prestigious collection at a London auction house next week.

Antique dealer Andrew Jenkins, 70, has decided to close Avon Antiques, in Market Street, to concentrate on appointment-only sales and to help a small number of his clients worldwide to furnish their homes.

His extensive collection, due to be auctioned off at Christie’s South Kensington on Thursday, is estimated to fetch between £600,000 and £900,000, with some pieces dating back to the 17th Century.

Mr Jenkins set up the antiques store in 1963 with his wife Vibeke when they moved to Wiltshire and borrowed £1,500 – £1,100 of which was to buy the Georgian townhouse in Market Street.

Talking about his decision to retire, Mr Jenkins said: “Antiques have been a lifelong passion for me and one of the earliest memories I have is visits to antiques shops at home in South Wales with my mother and grandmother and also while on holiday in north Devon.

“When I started out in 1963 I loved oak and country furniture and colour is the most important thing in antiques. Our motto is ‘Colour First and Foremost’.

“I closed my shop so that I could take semi-retirement and just concentrate on appointments only as I have been in the trade for 46 years.

“It’s sad closing the shop because I enjoyed talking to clients and other collectors but I will now be out and about sourcing antiques for my clients’ homes.”

After starting the shop in 1963, Mr and Mrs Jenkins lived in the townhouse for the first few years before the business grew so large they decided to move to another house in the centre of Bradford on Avon, where they have lived for the past 40 years.

Now the shop has closed, the couple have moved back into the Market Street building and are refurbishing it into a home, with just a small shop at the front of the building to be used to meet clients.

During their 46 years in the antiques business, the couple have received many accolades, including the British Antiques and Collectibles Award ‘Specialist Antique Dealer Furniture’.

They were also among the founder members of the Furniture History Society in 1964 and the West of England Antiques Fair in 1976.

The Christie’s auction, named A West Country Tradition: Avon Antiques, will see 243 lots sold, from an Indian carved blackwood and bone novelty snuff box (circa 1840), estimated to fetch £300, to 12 George III mahogany dining chairs, valued at £25,000.

Mr Jenkins said although it will be sad to see the items go, he is glad that other people will be able to enjoy them now.

One of his favourite pieces and also one of the most expensive in the auction is a George III brass six branch chandelier, estimated to fetch between £15,000 and £25,000. The auction is the last chance to buy from Avon Antiques with a wide variety of lots from barometers, and expensive dog collars to snuff boxes and grand table globes.

Rufus Bird, a director at Christie’s London, said: “As one of the best-known and universally liked antiques dealers, Andrew Jenkins and his treasure trove shop Avon Antiques in Bradford on Avon will be much missed as Andrew embarks upon his well earned retirement.

“The rich variety of country furniture and objects in the sale represents the best traditions of the English antique dealer over the last 50 years.”

All the items being sold at the auction at 10.30am on Thursday, May 21, can be found at www.christies.com