A Nelson armorial mirror

76 A Nelson armorial giltwood mirror

Height approx.: 38 ½ in (98cm) Width: 23 in (58.5 cm) Depth: 3in (7.5cm)

This George III mirror has a rectangular glass plate flanked by columns surmounted by lion masks below a cornice with fretwork and ball decoration and a central coat of arms for Admiral Viscount Nelson (1758-1805). The 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, a Union flag and a pair of guns. English, circa 1800. This giltwood mirror is from a small group of similar documented mirrors displaying Nelson’s coat of arms which may have come from Merton Place, the house in Surrey which the Admiral shared with his mistress Emma, Lady Hamilton (1765-1815). The mirrors vary in the arrangement of the armorial and trophy design with other examples showing the ribbon for Trafalgar. Known mirrors, like this example, depicting the distinctive coat of arms and motto used by Nelson have a claim to have been made during the Admiral’s lifetime. Others may have been displayed by close members of the Admiral’s family such as his brother William, 1st Earl Nelson (1757-1835). Visitors to Merton Place commented, not always favourably, on its richly decorated interiors where Nelson’s many trophies and portraits jostled for attention. ‘Not only the rooms,’ remarked Lord Minto, ‘but the whole house, staircase and all, are covered with nothing but pictures of him and her, of all sizes and sorts, and representations of his naval actions, coats of arms, pieces of plate in his honour, the flagstaff of L’Orient &c., an excess of vanity which counteracts its own purpose.’ Others noted the widespread use of glass and mirrors to fill the house with light and reflect its illustrious inhabitants. Following Trafalgar, facing ruinous debts, Emma was obliged to dispose of Merton and disperse its contents in a series of auctions and private sales making it difficult today to trace the original furnishings. However, period art works decorated with Nelson’s unique coat of arms such as this mirror make a compelling case as having been purchased for Merton. A similar giltwood pier glass with Nelson’s coat of arms featured in Emma Hamilton: Seduction & Celebrity at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich in 2016-17.