Vase in honour of Admiral Lord Nelson
Davenport Pottery Co.
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
circa 1805 - circa 1815
Materials
Lead
Measurements
248 x 248 x 200 mm
Place of origin
Stoke-on-Trent
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515005
Summary
Lead, vase commemorating Admiral Lord Nelson, Davenport Pottery Co., Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, c. 1805-15. A lead vase commemorating Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758-1805). A moulded vessel with dolphin-head lugs and, on one side, a three-quarter length portrait of Nelson, flanked by oak branches, on the other side a trophy of naval devices, including a ship, anchor, flags, oak leaves and acorns. Based on ceramic vessel, a jardinière or wine-cooler made in the Davenport factory c.1805-15. Partly collapsed.
Full description
This vase is one of innumerable works of art made during the nineteenth century to commemorate and celebrate the life and achievements of Britain’s greatest admiral, Horatio, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758-1805). The model was created by the Davenport ceramics company in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent. It is therefore more commonly known in unglazed caneware, in which the detailing is rather more precise than in this battered lead cast, the functional purpose of which is unclear. Ceramic examples are described both as wine-coolers and as jardinieres; at least one of those in the National Maritime Museum has a drainage hole in the bottom, confirming that it was made to be used for plants. According to John and Jennifer May (1972, p. 100), there is a theory that these objects were ordered for use at Merton Place, the house in south London bought by Emma Hamilton in 1801, and where she and Lord Nelson spent much of their time together until his death in 1805. There is an example of the object in caneware in the Lily Lambert McCarthy collection at the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth (Inv. 137/73), and no fewer than seven in the National Maritime Museum Greenwich: two in glazed earthenware, with the lug handles gilded (Inv. AAA5029; AAA5030); five in unglazed pottery (AAA5028; 5031-5034). The Davenport pottery factory was founded by John Davenport, who had set up business on his own account by 1794, and enjoyed especial success in the early 19th century, when King George IV was a patron. It was taken over in 1887. Unless it was some form of model, the Anglesey Abbey vessel in lead is unlikely to have been made in the Davenport factory, so may have been cast from a pottery example, at an indeterminate date. Jeremy Warren 2019
Provenance
Urban Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966); bequeathed to the National Trust in 1966 by Lord Fairhaven with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
Davenport Pottery Co., pottery manufacturer
References
May 1972: John and Jennifer May, Commemorative Pottery 1780-1900, London 1972, p. 100. McCarthy 1995: Lily Lambert McCarthy, Remembering Nelson, Portsmouth 1995, p. 189, no. 24. Czisnik 2003: Marianne Czisnik, ‘Admiral Nelson. Image and Icon’ (PhD thesis) University of Edinburgh, II, p. 442, no. 61.