A London-decorated Paris tureen and cover on a fixed stand,...

A London-decorated Paris tureen and cover on a fixed stand, from the 'Nelson Set Dessert Service', circa 1802
Of oval shape with false ring handles, the oak leaf borders with reserves, the cover and bowl with Nelson's crests of the San Josef and the chelengk, the stand with blue enamel ribbons and gilt inscriptions 'Nelson Aboukir' and 'Nelson Baltic', the cover also gilded with 'Aboukir' and 'San Josef', 25.5cm wide (2)
Provenance
Vice-Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson
Emma, Lady Hamilton

A pair of tureens- one for sugar and one for cream- was an important part of any dessert service. Made for Nelson and his family to use at Merton, the 'Nelson' dessert service might have been expected to follow British traditions. But curiously, the shape of the present lot, set on a fixed stand is typically continental. Most dessert sets of English manufacture included tureens with separate stands, whereas in France it was more usual to pass a tureen between guests while holding onto the stand.

There is an obvious explanation for the Continental shape seen here. All of the decoration on the Nelson dessert service is English, added by a decorator working in London. The white porcelain 'blanks' came from France, for most independent decorators preferred to use whatever pure white porcelain could be obtained from Paris. It is traditionally believed that the set was presented to Nelson at the Lord Mayor's Inaugural banquet in 1802. Please see the footnote to lot 49 in this sale.

We know that the Nelson Set dessert service was delivered to Emma's home at Merton, for some years later it was listed in the 'Trickey Inventory' of Lady Hamilton's possessions, discussed in the footnotes to the previous lots. Under the heading of the 'Nelson Set', the dessert service is listed with two 'Sugar Tureens'. These accompanied nine dishes and twenty-six plates, as well as a pair of covered ice pails with linings. The tureens are the only pieces in the dessert service without Nelson's full coat of arms, for there is room only for a series of crests and coronets.