The Wernher Collection at Ranger's House

The Wernher Collection at Ranger’s House showcases an extraordinary set of medieval, Renaissance and early modern artworks, unique wood carvings, religious statues, Gothic ivories and handcrafted furniture.

The 700-piece collection was amassed by 19th-century diamond magnate Sir Julius Wernher. Born in Darmstadt, Germany in 1850, he moved to London in his early 20s and later ventured to the newly discovered diamond mines in Kimberley, South Africa, where he developed a fortune that made him one of Britain’s wealthiest men at the time.

Wernher’s immense wealth allowed him to invest heavily in art, perhaps his primary passion. He was a fan of ‘splendidly ugly’ artworks, primarily smaller ivories, metalworks, wood carvings, and enamels from the Renaissance and medieval periods. These unique pieces often portrayed unusual subject matter and are richly - or garishly - embellished and decorative.

English Heritage acquired Ranger’s House—the former abode of the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, and later the home of Greenwich Park rangers (groundskeepers)—in 1986. A decade later, they worked with the Wernher Foundation to bring Julius Werner’s collection to Ranger’s House and saved it from being sold off to individual collectors and institutions.