18

Formerly the property of the Rev. Dr. Scott, Lord Nelson's Chaplain, and thence by direct descent...

Currency:GBP Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:30,000.00 - 35,000.00 GBP
Formerly the property of the Rev. Dr. Scott, Lord Nelson's Chaplain, and thence by direct descent...
Formerly the property of the Rev. Dr. Scott, Lord Nelson's Chaplain, and thence by direct descent An Historic Nelson Relic, one of the six hand-painted heraldic silk panels, portraying two escutcheons displayed accollée and bearing the impaled arms of Lord and Lady Nelson, surmounted by a coronet and framed within a gilt border, created to adorn the black velvet pall which covered Nelson's coffin during its journey up the Thames and was then placed on the extraordinary "Grand Funeral Car" which bore his body in procession from the Admiralty to St. Paul's Cathedral for burial on 9th January 1806, 171/4 wide x 231/2ins. high (44 x 60 cms.), loosely pinned into a glazed frame for display Historical notes: The national elation which swept the country when the triumphant news of Trafalgar reached England was everywhere tempered by the tragedy of Nelson's death at the crowning moment of his career. H.M.S. "Victory", Nelson's flagship, had suffered severe damage during the battle on 21st October 1805 and had barely survived the storm on the ensuing night. Limping into Gibraltar where she underwent temporary repairs, the journey home was painfully slow and, after a brief call at Spithead, "Victory" finally reached the Nore on 23rd December. >From there, Nelson's body was transferred to an Admiralty yacht and taken up the estuary to Greenwich Hospital where the coffin was sealed in a private room until 4th January 1806 when it was placed in the Painted Hall and seen by nearly 100,000 people in three days. On the morning of 8th January, the coffin was placed in a specially prepared funeral barge which then made its way up the Thames at the head of a lengthy riverine cortège. When the barge reached Whitehall Steps, the coffin was taken ashore and conveyed to the Admiralty where it was to lie overnight prior to the following day's interment in St. Paul's Cathedral. A State Funeral for a non-royal personage was unprecedented but both King George III and his government were insistent that Nelson's sacrifice at the moment of victory amply justified such a break with protocol, and elaborate preparations were set in train soon after the news of his death reached London. Having decided upon the Admiralty as the logical starting point for the ceremonial procession, a remarkable "Grand Funeral Car", its fanciful design largely inspired by Nelson's own flagship [H.M.S. "Victory"] was constructed to transport the coffin through the streets of London. As in life however, Nelson's marital status also caused problems in death and a grant of Arms had to be created hurriedly for Lady Nelson so that the armorial insignia displayed at the funeral would be heraldically correct. The painters of the escutcheons were likewise instructed to make certain that whilst Nelson's arms were to be shown on a black ground, those of his wife were to be on white so as to signify that she was still living. The stately procession left the Admiralty for St. Paul's at 11 o'clock on 9th January 1806 to find 30,000 troops lining the route to restrain the vast crowds of spectators. Seven royal dukes and the Prince of Wales preceded the funeral car which was drawn by six caparisoned and plumed horses. The citizens of London crowded every vantage point along the way and were rewarded with a spectacle as grand as anything they had ever witnessed whilst the funeral service itself, four hours in length, provided a fitting climax to the life and death of the nation's greatest hero. Once the burial was over, the uniquely eccentric "Funeral Car" was sent to St. James's Palace but the Clerk of the King's Stables objected to the huge crowds of visitors it was attracting and demanded that it be moved. The College of Heralds then tried to give it to the Admiralty but the Lord Chamberlain objected stating that it was not theirs to give away resulting in a further impasse. Eventually it found its way to Greenwich Hospital where, after almost forty years on display in the Painted Hall, it was tragically broken up due to lack of care and maintenance and appears to have disappeared by 1846. Of the six silk panels believed made for the pall covering Nelson's coffin, only two are known still to exist; the example offered in this catalogue, and another sold at auction in London in March 1997. The Rev. Alexander John Scott (1768-1840), known as Dr. Scott to differentiate him from the other John Scott, Nelson's personal secretary, was Chaplain to H.M.S. "Victory" (1803-05), and acted as the admiral's interpreter, Nelson being - by his own admission - "a poor linguist". He was also the individual who held and supported Nelson as he lay dying in "Victory's" cockpit and who afterwards wrote to Emma Hamilton "....what an affectionate, fascinating little fellow he was.....I become stupid with grief for what I have lost.....". It seems therefore entirely appropriate that Dr. Scott should have obtained one of the six armorial panels off Nelson's funereal pall as a poignant memento of the man he had served so faithfully and to whom he was so obviously devoted. Important Notice to Prospective Bidders Please note that this silk panel can be viewed in Central London during the week preceding the sale at the offices of Morton & Eden Ltd., 45 Maddox Street, London W1S 2PE (Tel. 020 7493 5344), from Monday to Friday, 14th - 18th October, 10.00am. - 4.30pm. daily. £30,000-35,000