Wernher Triptych [SEP] material used
Wernher Triptych
The Wernher Triptych is an ivory Byzantine triptych carved in Constantinople between 900–1000 AD.
History.
The triptych became part of the British Museum's collection in 1978, in lieu of taxes following the death of Sir Harold Wernher, son of the financier Sir Julius Wernher.
Description.
In the central panel stands the Virgin Hodegetria; on the side leaves are carved an angel and two saints framed in medallions; on the left St Nicholas and St Theodore, on the right St John Chrysostom and St
Wernher (1889–1948), who had no male heir. He had previously inherited Luton Hoo after his father's death in 1912.
He died in 1973 at Luton, Bedfordshire, and as he did not have any surviving male heir, the baronetcy became extinct. To avoid death duties, the Wernher estate donated the Wernher Triptych to the British Museum.
Marriage and children.
On 20 July 1917, he married Countess Anastasia de Torby (9 September 1892 – 7 December 1977), the eldest child of Grand