Lot 155Nelson in Memoriam: a rare and particularly fine gilt decorated porcelain jug by Barr Flight & Barr printed en-grisaille with a reverse signed pencil drawn head and shoulders portrait flanked by a French eagle standard the shaft entwined with serpents and a dove of Peace, the underside with impressed mark of initials surmounted by a crown, circa 1807, 148mm.
* This mirror-image portrait is after the recently discovered sketch of Nelson by Albin Roberts Burt done in pencil on silk probably about 1802. The original is signed A.R. Burt as is this version although here in mirrored format. Burt's brother Henry Frederick was Nelson's secretary and Burt himself a close friend of both Sir William and Emma Hamilton. He trained initially as an engraver under Robert Threw and Benjamin Smith. Adverts affixed to the reverse of some of his works stated that he had invented a machine by which the most accurate likenesses can be taken. It is likely that in searching for a suitable posthumous portrait of Nelson this very personal likeness was settled upon by Barr Flight & Barr and reproduced, by virtue of Burt's invention, as a mirror image.
There is no record of this portrait in either Richard Walker's 1998 seminal or his 1985 Regency Portraits catalogue. The recently discovered original pencil drawing was sold by Charles Miller Ltd in their Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments and Art auction on 8th November 2016 as lot 71 with a provenance described as UK private collection.
Barr Flight & Barr are recorded as operating between 1807 and 1813. Proceeds from the sale of this lot will go to benefit various charities.
Estimate: £1000 - 2000
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