Height: 38cm (14.7in)
Gilt bronze. Standing figure of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt, raised on an marble base inscribed ‘General / Blucher’. Height of figure excluding base: 23cm (9in)
The celebrated commander of the army of the Lower Rhine is best remembered for his timely arrival at the battle of Waterloo which, of course, helped to permanently turn the tide against Napoleon’s forces. Less well known is the bizarre announcement he made to the Duke of Wellington while in Paris in the months after Waterloo. Many years later Wellington told Lord Stanhope that Blucher had confided in him that at the age of seventy-two he was pregnant and carrying a baby elephant. Yet, what troubled Blucher most was that he had been impregnated by a French Grenadier!