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A large Nelson commemorative armorial pier glass

Offered by: Wick Antiques LTD

Description
A large Nelson commemorative armorial pier glass. This George III giltwood mirror has a rectangular glass plate below a shaped cornice with a central coat of arms for Admiral Lord Nelson (1758-1805) flanked by foliate tendrils on a painted black ground. The sides consist of paired tied-reed columns with palm frond capitals enclosing similar black painted panels of fruiting vine tendrils rising from classical vases. English, circa 1805.

See Wick Antiques, Britain on the High Seas: From Nelson to Churchill, pp.76-77, for a very similar giltwood mirror from a group at Merton Place, the house in Surrey which the Admiral shared with his mistress Emma, Lady Hamilton (1765-1815). They all featured his coat of arms surmounted by a baron’s coronet within a garter and motto, Palman Qui Meruit Ferat, beneath a naval coronet, displayed on a trophy representing naval victory with palm fronds, an anchor, piles of cannon balls, a Union flag and a pair of guns. This mirror is more likely to have been made after Lord Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, due to the black background. The whole country went into a frenzy of mourning and there was huge demand for pieces edged in black or made from trusty heart of British oak.

More Information

Origin:	England
Period:	19th Century
Materials:	Giltwood
Condition:	Good.
Creation Date:	Circa 1805
Styles / Movements:	Traditional
Incollect Reference #:	673929

Dimensions

W.	36.5 in;	H.	52 in;
W.	92.71 cm;	H.	132.08 cm;

Message from Seller:

Wick Antiques was established by Charles Wallrock in the early 1980s. Having grown up in the Antiques world Charles developed an extensive wealth of knowledge. Starting out as a ‘man with a van’ he quickly gained a good reputation and embarked on a longstanding relationship with Harrods. He was later joined by his wife, Caroline Wallrock. Caroline having completed a Persian degree, went on to study at Christie’s fine art and then joined Sotheby’s specializing in Islamic and Japanese works of art