
Oliver Cornish
Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries
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Sold for £5,760 inc. premium
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Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries

Head of Department
Provenance
The collection of Sir Michael and Lady Oppenheimer DD (3rd Baronet, British, 1924-2020), Jersey, thence by family descent.
Sir Michael Oppenheimer's maternal grandparents were Sir Robert Grenville Harvey, 2nd Baronet (1856-1931) and Lady Emily Blanche Harvey (1872-1935) of Langley Park, Buckinghamshire which was the Harvey Baronet's main family seat from 1788 until 1945.
Sir Michael's paternal family wealth was derived from mining interests in South Africa and his father Bernard Oppenheimer, as Chairman of the South African Diamond Corporation, received a baronetcy from George V in 1921 for setting up diamond sorting factories to employ wounded ex-servicemen after the First World War. The Oppenheimer family was involved with the prestigious De Beers brand over the subsequent decades of the 20th century and Lady Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022) was a distinguished moral and philosophical theologian, with a particular interest in the ethics pertaining to personal relationships.
These carved crosses were both likely made in one of the many monasteries around Mount Athos in Northern Greece and are decorated with finely carved panels depicting episodes from the Old and New Testaments. Used in the daily life and rituals of the Orthodox Church, the crosses were designed for use in the benediction of the congregation during the liturgy.