A Chamberlain Worcester teapot, cover and stand from the 'Horatia...

A Chamberlain Worcester teapot, cover and stand from the 'Horatia Service', circa 1802-03
Of oval boat shape, the handle with a pronounced thumbrest, the all-over rich Imari pattern no.240 reserving a large panel each side, both panels finely painted with the full arms and insignia of Lord Nelson complete with shield, mottos and orders, supported by figures of a sailor and a lion and surmounted by Viscount's coronet and crests of the San Josef and the chelengk, the cover and stand both with three separate reserves with coronets and further San Josef crests, the teapot 16cm high and 25.5cm long, the stand 18.2cm long (3)
Provenance
Vice-Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson
Emma, Lady Hamilton
With Stoner & Evans, King Street, London (paper labels)
Sotheby's, 12 June 2001, lot 281

The Horatia Service is one of the best-documented of all Worcester porcelain services. Its story began in the summer of 1802, when the Peace of Amiens gave the whole country an excuse for optimism and a reason to celebrate their greatest hero. Nelson embarked on a tour of the nation, accompanied of course by Emma Hamilton. Their entourage included Sir William Hamilton and Nelson's brother, the Reverend William Nelson. The party arrived in Worcester with great fanfare, on Sunday 26 August 1802 and lodged at the Hop Pole Inn in the city. The local newspaper reported...

"...On Monday morning his Lordship and friends, preceded by a band of music, and attended by Mr Weaver, of the Hop-Pole Inn, and Messrs Chamberlain, visited the china factory of the latter, over the door of which was thrown a triumphal arch of laurel, ornamented with an elegant blue flag, with an appropriate inscription thereon. For more than an hour his lordship viewed with the minutest attention every department of this highly improved work, so much the object of general curiosity; and on inspection of the superb assortment of china at the shop in High Street, honoured Messrs Chamberlain by declaring that, although possessed of the finest porcelain the courts of Dresden and Naples could afford, he had seen none equal to the productions of their manufactory, in testimony of which he left a very large order for china, to be decorated with his arms, insignia &c. Sir William and Lady Hamilton also favoured the proprietors with liberal purchases."

None of the Meissen (or Dresden) china given to Nelson has survived, but the re-discovery of a fine cabaret of Naples porcelain, exhibited recently by Errol Manners, shows the calibre of the porcelain which had been presented to Nelson. The opinion of the Worcester press, that the foreign china was 'none equal' to that of the Chamberlains, smacks of local bias. But there is no doubt Nelson- and Emma too- were bowled over by the opulent effect of the Japan style colours and brilliant gold they encountered during their tour of the Worcester factory.

James Plant had been an apprentice or junior painter at the Chamberlain factory in 1802, learning the skills of heraldic decoration. Many years later, in 1865, R.W.Binns published some of James Plant's memoirs, including an account of Nelson's visit more than half a century before. Plant recalled the moment the distinguished visitors arrived in the painting department. "and then," said Plant, "a very battered looking gentleman made his appearance- he had lost an arm and an eye- leaning on his left and only arm was the beautiful Lady Hamilton, evidently pleased at the interest excited by her companion; and then, amongst the general company following after, came a very infirm old gentleman- this was Sir William Hamilton."

The original order for the Horatia Service survives in the Chamberlain factory archives preserved at the Museum of Royal Worcester. The entry for August 27 1802 is in the name of 'Rt. Honble Lord Nelson, No. 23, Pickadilly, opposite the green Park [sic]'. Lord Nelson's name has been crossed out and replaced with 'Duke of Bronte'. Nelson's order then lists a breakfast, dinner and dessert service to be decorated in pattern number 240 which was the 'Fine Old Japan' pattern. The Breakfast service is described in detail. Counting lids and stands separately there were 150 component parts. Nelson's taste was flamboyant and, no doubt encouraged by Emma, he chose one of the most sumptuous and expensive patterns. Nelson requested the addition of his 'arms and several orders confer'd', to be finely painted on every piece. Most pieces were to bear only crests and coronets, while the two teapots were to be decorated with Nelson's complete insignia. The eventual invoice, drawn up later, shows that individual crests were costed at between one shilling and two shillings and sixpence each. The '4 Coats of Arms Emblazon'd proper', were costed at 30 shillings each. Painted on both sides, these added three pounds to the cost of each of the two teapots.

The 1802 order for the breakfast set was followed in far less detail with '1 Complete dinner service.' and '1 Complete dessert service, with ice pails.' The fact that the dinner and dessert sets were not listed in the same detail as the breakfast set suggests that during this initial visit to the factory Nelson was unwilling to commit to such lavish expenditure. Indeed, the dinner and dessert services were never completed, and it is likely that only two specimen plates were created. Two 'elegant vases' and a cup and saucer listed at the end of the order, are also unlikely to have been produced.

Work on the breakfast set probably commenced in September 1802 and it is presumed that it took up to two years to produce 150 individual pieces. The set was delivered to Nelson and Emma's house at Merton for it appears in the inventory of Lady Hamilton's possessions compiled when she needed to raise money. Designated the 'Horatia Set', the components listed as coming from Merton match precisely the original Chamberlain factory order, although just a few pieces had, by then, been broken. The set had probably been delivered to Piccadilly sometime late in 1803 or during 1804, and soon afterwards it was taken to Merton. Nelson was away at sea, but Emma will probably have entertained with the Horatia Set at Merton- and Nelson, too, during his last visit home in the summer of 1805. At three years old, little Horatia may well have been attracted by the gaudy colours and gilding, and it is conceivable that Emma referred to it as the 'Horatia Set' simply because her little daughter liked it so.

The set had not been paid for at the time of Nelson's death, as long delays in paying such bills was considered perfectly normal at the time. In January 1806, only a week after Nelson's state funeral, Chamberlains submitted a final account for the porcelain. The bill from Chamberlains for the breakfast service listed, once again in detail, all of the components and this time a price for each is given. The total was 120 pounds 10 shillings and sixpence and Chamberlains eventually received payment from Nelson's estate.

Bonhams sold two of the account books of Nelson's estate on 4 November 2008, lot 414, which show a payment was made by the estate on 11 February 1807 to Asser & Co for 'packing & dividing china.' Many of the valuable contents of Merton were inherited by Nelson's brother William. But various inventories of Lady Hamilton's possessions, used as sureties for loans, include a circa 1813 list of 'Plate China Glass &c belonging to Lady Hamilton', referred to as the 'Trickey Inventory'. This list shows that, according to the terms of Nelson's will, Emma did inherit most of the household china, including the Horatia, Nelson and Baltic sets. The list of items in the Horatia Service still included '2 Teapots and 1 stand'. And it is worth noting that the second teapot-stand was also there, incorrectly listed as '2 sugar bason (1 broke) and 1 stand'.

Unfortunately, Emma's financial problems meant that she had to part with almost everything in return for loans. On 8 July 1813 an auction was held by James Abbot of some of Lady Hamilton's possessions including large porcelain dinner and dessert services although no descriptions were given. Meanwhile other various china services, still packed in their crates, were kept in a warehouse by Alderman Smith as surety against other money he had advanced to Emma. These were stored by Smith until at least 1831. Emma's daughter, Horatia and her husband had attempted to reclaim what she felt was hers by right, and their correspondence with Alderman Smith mentions 'the service you are anxious to possess with the arms of Nelson', see Prentice (2005), p.22.

Because it had been known as the Horatia Set, part of the Chamberlain service may have been given (or sold) by Alderman Smith to Nelson's daughter Horatia. Alderman Smith disposed of other items, and the rest was sold when he died in 1844. In the National Maritime Museum, a hot water plate and some cups and saucers from the Chamberlain Horatia Service were gifted to the museum by the Reverend Hugh Nelson-Ward, grandson of Horatia, as part of the Nelson-Ward Collection. These had, quite likely, belonged to Horatia.

Some of Nelson's porcelain inherited by his brother William passed to Nelson's niece, Charlotte, Duchess of Bronte. She married Samuel Hood, Baron Bridport. On his death in 1868 his Nelson relics passed to his son, Alexander Nelson, Viscount Bridport. What remained of Nelson's porcelain was sold in Lord Bridport's sale at Christies on 11 July 1895. The 1895 auction did not include any of the Horatia service, but a note with part of the Horatia set in the Wentworth Wass Collection, see lot 43 in this sale, stated that Wass had acquired his pieces from Lord Bridport's collection.

When the two teapots from the Horatia Service appeared at auctions, in 1969 and in 2001, their recent provenance wasn't noted. Most likely both will have been among the items sold by Alderman Smith, and they may have ended up with Viscount Bridport. Because the two surviving teapots have...