Page 55 - Bonhams, Fine Chinese Art, London November 3, 2022

The collection belonged to Sir Michael and Lady Oppenheimer
DD (3rd Baronet, 1924-2020). Sir Michael’s maternal
grandparents were Sir Robert Grenville Harvey, 2nd Baronet
(1856-1931) and Lady Emily Blanche Harvey (1872-1935) of
Langley Park, Buckinghamshire. The Chinese art collection
can be, at least in part, traced back to Langley Park,
Buckinghamshire, home to the Harvey Baronets from 1788
until 1945, as demonstrated in a pre-1945 photograph
showing Lot 122, the cloisonné enamel tripod ‘elephant’
incense burner, Qianlong.

Sir Michael Oppenheimer’s paternal family was the well-known
South African mining family. The baronetcy was created
in 1921 for Bernard Oppenheimer, Chairman of the South
African Diamond Corporation for setting up diamond sorting
factories to employ wounded ex-servicemen after the First
World War. The family has been involved with De Beers over
many decades. Lady Oppenheimer DD (1926-2022) was
a distinguished moral and philosophical theologian, with a
particular interest in the ethics pertaining to
personal relationships.

FINE CHINESE ART | 53