SIR JULIUS WERNHER, BT. The following four lots come from the collection of Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt. who said of himself: 'I am not one of those people who create new fortunes by genius or new combinations, and lose them again and win them again. I only walk well-known paths, but I walk steadily and only act out of conviction, without, indeed, paying too much attention to my own point of view.' That said, he created one of the greatest fortunes of an age and built one of the finest art collections in Britain. The path to his fortune was to be found in the discovery of diamonds some 500 miles north-east of Cape Town in 1870. That event drew thousands of fortune-seekers to the region, including the 21-year-old German born Julius Wernher, who was sent there by his employer, the London and Paris based diamond dealer, Jules Porgès. Wernher set up camp near the diggings at Du Toit's Pan, opening an office a little later at the neighbouring settlement of New Rush, later renamed Kimberley. Thanks to Wernher's ability, Porgès was to become the largest importer of Cape diamonds in London, and later was persuaded by Wernher to form a diamond mining company of his own, which, after several acquisitions, was to go on to form a union with De Beers, who were previously their main rivals. Wernher was later to become a Life Governor of the company. Having returned to Europe, settling in England, Wernher was, with justification, regarded as one of the richest men in the world, and began to settle down to life in that position. In 1886 he met, courted and married in 1888, Alice Mankiewicz, known as Birdie. They moved into a house in Bayswater, but it was not until two years later, in 1890, that Wernher bought his first major work of art: Saint Michael and the Dragon by Bartolomé Bermejo. This first major acquisition seems to have decided Wernher upon a path as a collector. In 1895, the Wernhers acquired a new, more palatial London residence, Bath House, on the corner of Piccadilly and Bolton Street, to house their collection, including for at least a time the following four lots. While the records of where his works of art were purchased were lost during the Second World War, many works came with illustrious earlier provenances. For example, the Saint Sebastian and Saint Christopher which were offered as lots 52 and 53 in the same sale as the following four lots, were commissioned by the Duke Frederick of Saxony and owned in the 19th century by Prince Soltykoff. Though the Wernher's main London residence was Bath House, they also had, from 1899, a lease on Luton Hoo, a home in Bedfordshire, which had been designed by Robert Adam for the Marquess of Bute. When they bought the house in 1903, they set in place plans for its renovation, choosing the French architect Charles Frédéric Mewès, who had built the Ritz in London, to undertake the work. In 1905, Julius was created a baronet, partly for the work he had been doing for King Edward's Hospital Fund, a fund which he generously supported and continued to support on his death, leaving the fund some £400,000 from an estate valued at £11,500,000. Luton Hoo and Bath House both passed to Lady Wernher for her lifetime, after which they would pass to the couple's second son, Harold, who also inherited the baronetcy after the death of his elder brother in 1948. Harold had married, in 1917, Anastasia (Zia) de Torby, the daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovitch of Russia and Countess Sophie de Torby, the grand-daughter of Pushkin. A cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, Lady Zia could count most of the crowned heads of Europe among her relations.

A GERMAN PARCEL-GILT SILVER DOUBLE-BEAKER

AUGSBURG, CIRCA 1690, MAKER'S MARK PROBABLY IR CONJOINED

Details

A GERMAN PARCEL-GILT SILVER DOUBLE-BEAKER
AUGSBURG, CIRCA 1690, MAKER'S MARK PROBABLY IR CONJOINED
Each beaker lobed, the lower body of each engraved with foliage band, the lobes alternately engraved with inscriptions and scrolling foliage, with gilt moulded rims, marked under base of each cup
3¾ in. (9.5 cm.) high
4 oz. (144 gr.)
The inscriptions translate as:

'The Rhine wine is the best one and has the power such that one will be as one drinks. It makes free from care'

'Who wants to be of gay mind and all sparkling, drinks, as its name says, a good Klingenberg wine'

'I praise the old wine as it makes young blood and I strongly believe in the proverb of the drinking friends: old is good'

'The noble Neckar wine is certainly also not a bad one, what lovely always loves the noble lady'

'Who loves the health needs me here, he often drinks a good wine and flees from the evil beer'

'Wine from Spain is highly appreciated, it goes lovely in and warms up what may cool down'

Provenance

Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt. (1850-1912), Bath House, London, in the Red Room, by whom bequeathed, with a life interest to his widow,
Alice, Lady Wernher, subsequently Lady Ludlow (1862-1945), to their son
Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt., G.C.V.O. (1893-1973), Bath House, London, and from 1948, Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, and by descent.
The Wernher Collection; Christie's, London, 5 July 2000, lot 29.

Literature

1913 Bath House Inventory, p. 36, no. 199, in the Red Room, in the 'large glazed case near door - Right Hand Division'.
1914 Wernher Inventory, p. 36, no. 188.

Brought to you by

Arne Everwijn

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

aeverwijn@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2453

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

More from An Iberian Private Collection Part II: Furniture, Silver, Jewellery, Paintings, European, Chinese & Islamic Ceramics

View All