About this lot

Description

After Franz Thaller (1759-1817) and Matthias Ranson (Fl. circa 1800), a marble bust of Lord Nelson, 19th century, depicted in rear-admiral's full dress uniform and wearing various decorations, including two large naval medals 68 x 46cm Provenance: Private collection, North Norfolk The present work is a fine contemporary copy (the original in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich) of one of the most famous sculpted images of Nelson by the well known Viennese sculptor, Franz Thaller and his believed to be assistant, Matthais Ranson. The original was made during Nelson’s visit to Vienna in August 1800, when returning to England from Naples overland with Lord and Lady Hamilton, as well as Maria Carolina, Queen of Sicily. Here, Nelson has been sculpted in the full-dress uniform of a rear-admiral and is wearing decorations awarded for the battles of Cape St. Vincent and the Nile, together with the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, awarded in 1797, and the Order of the Crescent, given to Nelson by Sultan Selim III in 1799. Also worn is the Naval Gold Medal bearing the figures of ‘Victory’ and ‘Britannia’, awarded to senior officers of the Royal Navy for specific actions.

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