A PAIR OF MINIATURE BRONZE CANNONS Each with barrel measurin...

Estimate

£200 - £300

A PAIR OF MINIATURE BRONZE CANNONS
Each with barrel measuring approx. 35cm in length, inclusive of knob, the bore approx. 1.9cm; together with a collection of short lengths of rope of varying gauges, reputedly removed from H.M.S. Victory, the flagship of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (2)

Provenance - Lieut. Col. Harold Wyllie (1880 – 1973) - Born at Hoo, in Kent, Wyllie was the first of nine children born to the renowned marine artist W.L. Wyllie and his wife Marion Amy. His life was divided between his artistic and military careers, with his lifelong interest in the sea filling any gaps in his busy days. On leaving school he travelled to New York to work as an artist for The Graphic, but returned to fight in the army in the Boer War. In the First World War he became a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps, much of his work involving making sketches in the air to be used by Army war planners. In 1916, he joined the Army and was made up to Lt. Col. In 1932 he was appointed in charge of HMS Implacable in Portsmouth Harbour, where she was in use as a training ship. Wyllie helped his father when HMS Victory was placed into dry dock in Portsmouth, and he was appointed Chief Rigger of the Victory. In 1958 he was appointed Vice President of the Society of Marine Artists.