A large and fine George III Commemorative silver-gilt Nelson vinaigrette

A large and fine George III Commemorative silver-gilt Nelson vinaigrette,

by Mathew Linwood, Birmingham 1805,

rectangular form, the hinged cover with an engraved portrait of Nelson within an oval border, inscribed 'England Expects Every Man Will Do His Duty', with reed and dot decoration, the underside with a foliate motif, the hinged cover opens to reveal a pierced and embossed silver-gilt grille with scene of HMS Victory facing right and inscribed 'Victory' and embossed 'Trafr. Octr. 21. 1805', length 4.2cm, approx. weight 0.9oz.

Provenance: A Private Collection of Naval and Military Vinaigrettes.

The Battle of Trafalgar was arguably the most decisive victory in the history of war at sea. Undaunted by the fact that he had only twenty-seven ships-of-the-line compared to the thirty-three in the combined French and Spanish fleets, Nelson brought the enemy to action on 21st October 1805 in a ferocious battle lasting less than three hours. Using a brilliant strategy to split the enemy line-of-battle in two places, their fleet was shattered by the loss or capture of eighteen of its capital ships and over 6,000 men were killed or wounded. The magnitude of the victory was overshadowed by the death of Nelson himself but French and Spanish sea power was totally destroyed, the former taking many years to reassert itself and the latter never recovering.