BRITAIN ON THE HIGH SEAS ON BRITAIN BRITAIN ON THE HIGH SEAS Trafalgar, Trophies and Trade Trafalgar, Trophies Trophies and Trade Trafalgar, Charles Wallrock www.wickantiques.co.uk CHARLES WALLROCK Wick Antiques Ltd, Riverside Business Park. Gosport Street, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9BB Mobile: 07768 877069 Showroom: 01590 677558 Email: [email protected] Website: www.wickantiques.co.uk BRITAIN ON THE HIGH SEAS Trafalgar, Trophies and Trade CHARLES WALLROCK 2 Foreword Table of Contents 3 The Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 is the most achievement. While maintaining the overriding wartime Trafalgar to Waterloo 3636 Cary’s 12-inch table globes Trade: Oriental influences and famous event in British naval history. It represented not commitment to build, commission, man and supply its materials in England 4 4 A monumental royal coat of 3838 Wellington and Bonaparte in only the frustration of Napoleon Bonaparte’s plans to Navy, an army on the Continent, and financing European 72 arms by John Steell alabaster 72 Chinese Chippendale style invade England but also the culmination of forty years of alliances, a revolution was taking place in industrial mirrors by George Godley 8 8 Admiral Visc. Bridport’s seal conflict, principally with France, for worldwide ascendancy practices and production at home. At the same time, 3939 Bronze cannon at Waterloo 7474 A George III coromandel chest over the oceans, colonies and their trade routes. The challenging intellectual and political life was also being 9 9 Captain Hood’s seal death of Admiral Nelson, since 1798 the national hero of reflected in the cultural, literary and artistic worlds. Much Trophies: Yachting for pleasure 7575 A nest of specimen wood 1010 A ‘Sir Sidney Smith’ jug the Nile victory and the popular consort of the seductive of this was due to foreign influences in style and taste. and sport tables by Gillows 45 Emma Hamilton, secured his place indelibly in history Orientalism, sophisticated design, the use of exotic tropical 1212 Admiral Lord Nelson's 45 The Duke of Windsor's Royal 7676 A Regency marquetry library and admiration. The man and his actions have generated woods and materials were readily welcomed in decoration armorial carriage panel Yacht Britannia racing flag table in exotic woods a profusion of tributes and memorabilia of every type. and furnishing, by such as Gillows, to meet the growing 1414 Emma, Lady Hamilton by 4646 William IV’s cup for the Royal 7878 George IV padouk Carlton Trafalgar itself was one of the largest and most complex demands of the more affluent. Richard Westall R.A. Yacht Squadron House Desk naval battles ever fought and each participant, person After 1815 Britain enjoyed decades of progress, prosperity 48 or ship, has been researched and commemorated in 1717 Emma, Lady Hamilton’s 48 Marquess of Conyngham's 7979 An Orientalist cabinet and world leadership. This was evident nowhere more Yacht every medium over ensuing years. The story of HMS ‘orange blossom’ box Helen vividly than in the pursuit of leisure yachting and cruising 8080 A Victorian centre table by Bellerophon, and Captain William Pryce Cumby, is a 50 by the wealthy. The foundation of the Royal Yacht 1818 A cameo of Emma, Lady 50 Lake Windermere Y.C. trophy Taprell and Holland & Sons prime example of these broad-ranging studies. Hamilton Squadron provided the social milieu and competitive 5151 Beaumaris Regatta trophy Trade: Shipping and Navigation But the naval battle was not the end of Napoleon’s challenges that appealed to this elite. Elaborate trophies 1818 A medallion of Admiral Lord 5252 Major R Sloane-Stanley by 8282 Cannon by McAndrew & ambition. For a further ten years he ruled a large part of and decorations were a requisite for owners and yachts Nelson George Hillyard Swinstead the Continent and fought to dominate the remainder. – silver cups and shining brass cannon. Meanwhile the Woore 1919 Mrs Thomasine Goulty’s His final demise was the result of the long campaign merchant shipping fleet under the British flag, soon the 8484 A Lund & Blockley clock Nelson memorial ring Trade: Exotic Merchandise in Portugal, Spain and France conducted by Britain’s largest in the world, was the commercial manifestation for Europe 8686 A Dixey barometer acclaimed military leader, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of of this preoccupation with all things maritime. The 2020 Naval Surgeon Beatty's 5454 A rare ‘Japanned’ table cabinet Wellington, and brought to a successful conclusion at Great Exhibition of 1851 epitomised this achievement medicine cabinet 8686 A Spencer, Browning & Rust Waterloo in 1815. The statuettes commemorate the and progress. It also demonstrated how comprehensively 5757 A Japanese Arita charger octant 2222 A snuff box and a naval crown protagonists while a pair of cannon from that engagement materials and designs from abroad had been accepted and 87 5858 Japanese Arita ‘Scheveningen' 87 A Gray & Keen barometer reappear, afloat, in a later more peaceful era. absorbed into British life and living. 2323 Victory timber souvenirs design export dishes 8888 Scale models of cannon Patriotic pride was strong in the reign of George III, as Alan Russett 2424 Coconut Shell ‘Bugbears’ 6060 A Jamaican marquetry tea 89 demonstrated by the arresting monolithic royal coat of Author of ‘George Chambers: The Sailor’s Eye and the Artist’s 89 A Thomas Cole clock 2628 The £100 Trafalgar Sword caddy by Ralph Turnbull arms. Those years, from 1760 until 1820, saw a remarkable Hand,’ ‘Dominic Serres: War Artist to the Navy’ and ‘John 9090 A model of awarded to William Pryce F.W. Harris burgeoning in every phase of national enterprise and Thomas Serres: The Tireless Enterprise of a Marine Artist’. 6161 Indian specimen wood tables Cumby of Bellerophon 9292 Victorian shipyard models 6262 A Ceylonese ebony and 2929 Captain Pryce Cumby's silver 9494 A Johnston 30-inch globe specimen wood centre table 3030 The Bellerophon chair 9696 An exhibition quality cabinet 6565 Ceylonese ebony hall chairs made from exotic woods 3232 Thomas Atkinson’s log tables 6666 Anglo-Ceylonese tables front cover Page 46 3434 Oil of Richard Nicholson of 6767 An Indian wood elephant Blyth, Chief Carpenter front endpaper Pages 4 & 39 6868 An Anglo Chinese secretaire 3535 Admiral Sir William rear endpaper Page 62 Cornwallis’s armchair 7070 A Chinese silk hanging back cover Page 4 4 A monumental royal coat of arms by John Steell Height: 59in (150cm) Width: 93in (236cm) Depth: 21in (53cm) This late Georgian carved and painted wood coat of arms The academic appeal of all of these pieces is sizeable. is of exceptional scale and quality. Depicting the royal The Steell family were certainly Scotland's most notable coat of arms surmounted by an armed lion, royal crown carvers and sculptors during the 19th century and and visor flanked by fleshy acanthus leaves and supported commissions like these for municipal buildings would have by the head, chest and front legs of a recumbent lion and been extremely prestigious. unicorn, both reclining on a banner partially inscribed The discovery in context and , signed on the front . Scottish, Dieu Droit J Steell, Edin It is extremely instructive to view these carvings together circa 1790. and assess them as a unified group though, unfortunately, This royal coat of arms is one of four now known to measurements for the two carvings still in situ are not in survive by John Steell. One is in the collection of the the public domain. The piece in the National Galleries National Galleries of Scotland and the other two are still of Scotland is an altogether smaller piece, measuring 48 in place, adorning the pediment of Leith Customs House inches by 72 inches by 15 inches. It is also likely to be the and the interior of the County Hall in Cupar. Both of latest in date as the first three figures forming the date are these latter pieces have been later gilded and, in the case visible to the reverse and they are 184. John Steel Snr.'s of the Leith example, later painted as well. The piece in trade card survives and advertises “house and ship carving the NGS is partially constructed from plaster, with the on moderate terms”. It is thus tempting to conclude that remaining part being of gilded pine. this smaller carving might have been produced for a ship. All of the surviving pieces are signed. It was during restoration in 1983 that the royal coat of 6 arms on the pediment of Leith Customs House was discovered to have been carved by the Steell family. Intriguingly, this is also the only one of the known examples to have a date, that of 1813, carved into the reverse adjacent to the signature. Thanks to the work of Charles J Burnett we know that the piece was seemingly originally painted in a monochromatic colour scheme. A simple visual examination of these three images reveals a surprising amount. Rather than keeping to a standard design and scaling the motifs up and down, Steell tailored each coat of arms precisely. The poses of the lion and unicorn supporters are quite different in each case. In the Leith Customs House example, to overcome the difficulty of a relatively shallow pediment, the supporters are Leith Customs House Photo credit M J Richardson. depicted stretched out on the ground, whereas in the other early years of his career. Certainly, as he was apprenticed two examples they are much more upright, suggesting that to his father from the age of 14 (in 1818), he would have such space constraints were not a consideration when they played some part in the production of some of these wood were carved. If our example was also designed for display carvings and it is the opinion of some experts that both on the pediment of a building then it has been suggested men would have been involved in carving the surviving that that pediment would have had to have been very steep coats of arms.