A Curious Model of the Britannia, a Ship of 100 guns »
The Admiralty ‘Pull-Apart’ model for the First Rate Ship of the Line Britannia, scale 1:48. Workshop of John Hayward, Master Shipwright at Woolwich Dockyard, circa 1715. A contemporary dockyard model fully decked, equipped, and made to separate at the gun deck, revealing the deck beams. Mounted on a later baseboard with plaque inscribed: ‘The Worshipful […]
. View Post » The Nelson Map, Norfolk »
In 2022, I created The Nelson Map for the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Admiral Lord Nelson’s birthplace village of Burnham Thorpe in North Norfolk. Based on a survey of Norfolk published in 1797, the map highlights places of especial interest to Nelson’s early life including his school in Norwich and the houses […]
. View Post » Nelson in His Own Words »
In October 2022 I curated an exhibition at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth of Nelson letters from the collection of the The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation in Athens. The collection includes never-before-seen letters from Nelson to his mistress Emma, Lady Hamilton, and orders written by the admiral in the days leading up to […]
. View Post » Oliver Cromwell’s Watch »
A mid-17th Century Puritan silver fob watch by William Clay, circa 1645, verge movement with gut fusee and worm-and-wheel set up, the top plate with pierced balance cock engraved William Clay fecit, supported on truncated pyramidal Egyptian pillars, the circular face having a single steel beetle hand, Roman numerals and 15-minute chapter within an outer […]
. View Post » Nelson’s Lost Jewel »
To coincide with the publication of my new book “Nelson’s Lost Jewel: The Extraordinary Story of the Lost Diamond Chelengk”, celebrated London jewellers Symbolic & Chase commissioned an exact replica of the fabled lost jewel based on a drawing of the Chelengk discovered in the College of Arms. Made by master goldsmith Philip Denyer, the […]
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