Some of you may remember the delightful Admiral Nelson Duck that the National Museum of the Royal Navy launched (can you launch a duck?!) last year to predictable howls of protest. Personally I thought he was very cute and was delighted to procure one to send to dear esteven.

However I recently stumbled across this remarkable piece of object d'tat that ( Read more... )

Just in case you missed this in the tv listings....Nelson in His Own Words, tonight on BBC2 at 21.00 in England and Ireland, and tomorrow at 21.00 in Scotland and Wales. Blurb as follows

Horatio Nelson was Britain's greatest naval hero. He was famed for his dash-and-glory heroics. He was also a prolific letter writer. The letters reveal that ( Read more... )

Admiral Nelson Duck. Yours for £5 from the National Museum of the Royal Navy Portsmouth.


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Anyone got a spare €20 million or so down the back of the couch? If so there's a little property in Sicily that you might be interested in. Nelson's Villa La Falconara in Taormina is for sale and although there's no price on the sellers website, I've read elsewhere that the price is between €15 and €20 million. Actually it's been ( Read more... )

This is very short notice, but just in case anyone is kicking their heels in London this weekend, The Queens House at the Royal Museums Greenwich has a series of events running today and tomorrow "exploring the extraordinary story of Lady Emma Hamilton; actress, dancer, celebrity, trend-setter and muse." It's good to see Hamilton getting some ( Read more... )

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Ship models turn up at auction fairly frequently and often command astonishing sums. This one, which will be sold at auction by Christies next week, is a real beauty and is expected to fetch between £60,000 and £90,000!


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Another interesting event, this time on the other side of the pond. The Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University currently is currently showing an exhibition called Lady Hamilton Dancing. Blurb as follows:

In 1794 the dancing and Attitudes, or expressive postures, performed by Emma Hamilton (1761?-1815) were rendered in twelve neoclassical images ( Read more... )

There's an excellent introduction on the BBC website here to the National Maritime Museum's new Nelson, Navy, Nation exhibition by co-curator Quintin Colville. Despite the ridiculously sensationalist headline "The Brutal World of the Nelson-era Navy", it's actually a very considered and nuanced introduction to the exhibition and well worth a ( Read more... )

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