Nelson ceramics look set for victory

April 5, 2024 admin Bonhams, ceramics, Lord Nelson

The enduring legacy of British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson will be celebrated in two sales taking place this month at Bonhams Knightsbridge entitled Nelson Forever! A Naval Legacy in Ceramics and Glass on April 23 and the Marine Sale on April 24.

Lord Nelson may be best known for his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, but he was already a national hero long before then thanks to his naval tactics. His victories and courage caught the public imagination both during his lifetime and beyond.

On April 23, Nelson Forever! A Naval Legacy in Ceramics and Glass presents an unprecedented number of pieces from ceramic services owned, ordered by and associated with Admiral Lord Nelson. A highlight of this single-owner collection is an important Coalport cup and saucer by Thomas Baxter, dated 1804, which has an estimate of £15,000-25,000.

A Coalport cup and saucer by Thomas Baxter, dated 1804 — An important Coalport cup and saucer by Thomas Baxter, dated 1804. Estimated at £15,000 – 25,000

Known as Britain’s most famous war hero, Admiral Lord Nelson’s private life also enthralled and, at times, outraged the British public both during his lifetime and thereafter. His much commented-on love-affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton was one of scandal but also, as evidenced by their letters, one of true desire.

An extraordinary cup and saucer, painted by Thomas Baxter in 1804, the year before Nelson’s death at Trafalgar, is an intimate declaration of that love and was most likely a gift from Emma to Nelson. On May 27, 1804, Nelson wrote to Emma from the Victory: ‘Your dear phiz (face) – but not the least like you – on the cup, is safe; but I would not use it, for all the world; for, if it was broke, it would distress me very much.’ Moreover, we know that Baxter visited Emma at Merton, the Surrey home she shared with Nelson, on multiple occasions where he sketched her from life, making the artist’s connection with the story all the more palpable.

The following day, on April 24, the Marine Sale will feature a gold and enamel mourning ring for Lord Nelson by John Salter, 1806, carrying an estimate of £4,000-6,000. The ring was once owned by the Reverend Alexander John Scott (1768-1840), a British naval chaplain. He was appointed to the flagship H.M.S. Victory in 1803 where he served as private secretary to Lord Nelson.

Nelson's 'Baltic' service. An important London-decorated Paris porcelain teapot and cover, circa 1802, estimated at £20,000-30,000 — Nelson’s ‘Baltic’ service. An important London-decorated Paris porcelain teapot and cover, circa 1802, estimated at £20,000-30,000

Scott was with Nelson when he was shot on the quarter-deck of the Victory at the battle of Trafalgar. Scott attended his dying chief in the cockpit of the flagship, receiving his last wishes. He refused to leave Nelson’s body until it was brought back to England and placed in the coffin to lie in the Painted Hall Greenwich. Only 58 examples of this ring were ever made, 31 were for Nelson’s close family and friends, the rest for pallbearers and other dignitaries present at the funeral, making this a rare testament to Nelson’s memory by those closest to him.

Another highlight of the Marine Sale is a selection of eight paintings by one of the foremost nautical painters of the 20thcentury, Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973), including his Blue Seas- The Maitland which carries an estimate of £30,000-50,000.