Nelson interest. A George III silver goblet, with the lobed ...

Hammer

£5,000

Nelson interest. A George III silver goblet, with the lobed  bowl and foot,  stippled running leaf rims,  engraved A small Token of Friendship & Gratitude from LADY HAMILTON to her Friend MR PARROTT for his very great attention to her late much beloved Husband The Rt Honble Sir Willm Hamilton KB &c&c, the reverse engraved with the crest of Kelham  and inscribed Presented by Mrs Parrott to R Kelham within a garter, on flared foot, 18.5cm h, by Solomon Hougham, London 1802, 11ozs 18dwts

Provenance: Presented by Emma, Lady Hamilton (1765-1815) to the physician John Parrott (1764-1832) of Mitcham, and by his daughter presented to her son in-law Robert Kelham Kelham (1788-1862) of Bleasby Hall, Southwell, Nottinghamshire; thence by descent to the present vendor.

This notably handsome but not ostentatious cup and the affectionate sentiments expressed by it in heartfelt words, clearly composed by Emma, Lady Hamilton, was presented to John Parrott, a neighbour of the Hamiltons and Nelson in Mitcham.

Emma, then aged 35 and her husband Sir William, aged 70, accompanied by Nelson returned to England from Naples in 1800. The Admiralty refused Nelson a ship which left the party no alternative but to undertake an arduous four-month journey across Europe before finally crossing the North Sea from Cuxhaven to Great Yarmouth. Frustrating for Nelson, it was particularly trying for the ageing Sir William and also for Emma, who was pregnant with Nelson's child. Their daughter Horatia was born in January 1801.

In September of the same year Nelson bought Merton Place, the house found for him by Emma as a family home. It was chosen to afford a degree of seclusion, a refuge from spiteful tongues, but not too remote from London. They moved in to a hearty welcome from the local villagers in October 1801.

The Peace of Amiens from March 1802 to May 1803 saw Nelson spend much of his time at home, his "dear dear Merton" and Emma's "paradise Merton", in a loving menage a trois. Sir William Hamilton died in April 1803, having moved to his own home in Piccadilly the previous month, purposely to fulfil his wish to die under his own roof.

The present goblet was assayed between 29 May 1802 and 1803 and therefore dates precisely from the year of Nelson's greatest domestic contentment. John Parrott was one of the trusted small circle of friendly neighbours that also included James Perry, Editor of the Morning Chronicle, Abraham Goldsmid, a financier of Morden Lodge and the local curate Thomas Lancaster, to whom Nelson gave money for the poor of the parish. It is therefore inconceivable that Nelson would have been unaware of the commissioning of so personal a gift as this goblet by his de facto wife, for one of their close circle of newfound friends. Of impeccable provenance and never previously offered for sale, there can be few more evocative mementoes of Emma Hamilton or of that all to brief a blissful period at Merton Place.

Sources include P Hopkins: A History of Lord Nelson's Merton Place, Merton's Historical Society 1998 and the society's article Nelson of Merton 2005

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Good condition with light polish wear and minor dent on foot, no splits or repair