Bulletin No. 65 - The Eagles Have Landed

As many collectors know, one can wait years for certain items to show up and then three appear all at once! This time it’s three Napoleonic style eagles that we are pleased to offer alongside an intruguing collection of French Revolution and Napoleonic artifacts recently added to our re-stocked site. The oldest of our Eagles dates to within ten years of the fall of the Premier Empire and intriguingly commemorates a French regiment present aboard ship off Cape Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. The second of our Eagles comes from a well known French collection dispersed in the 1980s, and is traditionally understood to have been commissioned by Colonel Emile Félix Count Fleury (1815-1884) for the Honour Hall of the Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale as revived by Napoleon III. Eagle number three is an Elizabeth II hallmarked silver model of the 8th Line’s Eagle as captured by Sergeant Patrick Masterson after an epic struggle at the Battle of Barrosa, from which he emerged with the words "By Jaysus, boys, I have the Cuckoo!”

Our Napoleonic theme continues with a fine portrait of Capitaine Gaudet of the 87th Line, whose career included a spell with the guard of the Premier Consul himself before joining the Army of Italy and being decorated by Marshal Massena for gallantry at the fording of the Isonzo river in northern Italy in late 1805. A French Revolutionary sword from the Ecole de Mars and a Girondin Club parade drum and a patriotic cockade are all worthy additions. Our naval aquisitions include a Nelson silver snuff box that belonged to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker of Copenhagen fame, a fine example of a Nelson era boarding axe, and a French watch pocketed by a hard-living Royal Marines captain who took the surrender of Admiral Villeneuve and his staff at Trafalgar.

Saving the best until last we are pleased to round up this Bulletin selection with a brief mention of the extraodinary centerepiece made in silver-gilt by London’s leading silversmith of the day for Field Marshal Sir William Gomm to commemorate his faithful war horse ‘Old George’ who carried him safely through the many perils of the Waterloo campaign.

Please be sure to check out the updated site for over a hundred or more new arrivals across the board.

All the best as ever,

J, G & T