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Details
WELLINGTON, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of (1769-1852), British general, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Engraved portrait inscribed and signed ("Wellington") on a fine portrait by J.R. Robinson (engraved at bottom right), n.d. 16 x 14 in. approximately, including full margins of the sheet. Matted and framed. Unexamined out of frame. Boldly inscribed in dark ink directly beneath the image.
THE VICTOR OF WATERLOO INSCRIBES A PORTRAIT: THE ONLY SIGNED OR INSCRIBED PORTRAIT OFFERED AT AUCTION SINCE 1975. A superb portrait engraving of the youthful Duke in high-collared suit and simple cravat; unlike most depictions of the victor of Waterloo, Wellington is shown out of uniform and without any of the many decorations he had been awarded. Inscribed in ink: "Presented to the Duchess de [undeciphered]...by her most faithful servant Wellington Kg.''
On 18 June 1815, Wellington as Allied commander led his coalition army into battle against Napoleon at Waterloo, near Brussels. As the Duke famously commented, that bloody and climactic day's battle was "a damn near run thing." Without the last-minute appearance of the Prussian army under Von Blucher, Waterloo might well have been Napoleon's triumph instead of his nemesis. He was sent into permanent exile on St. Helena. Provenance: Anonymous owner (sale, R.M. Smythe, 26 February 1998, lot 409, $8,500).
THE VICTOR OF WATERLOO INSCRIBES A PORTRAIT: THE ONLY SIGNED OR INSCRIBED PORTRAIT OFFERED AT AUCTION SINCE 1975. A superb portrait engraving of the youthful Duke in high-collared suit and simple cravat; unlike most depictions of the victor of Waterloo, Wellington is shown out of uniform and without any of the many decorations he had been awarded. Inscribed in ink: "Presented to the Duchess de [undeciphered]...by her most faithful servant Wellington Kg.''
On 18 June 1815, Wellington as Allied commander led his coalition army into battle against Napoleon at Waterloo, near Brussels. As the Duke famously commented, that bloody and climactic day's battle was "a damn near run thing." Without the last-minute appearance of the Prussian army under Von Blucher, Waterloo might well have been Napoleon's triumph instead of his nemesis. He was sent into permanent exile on St. Helena. Provenance: Anonymous owner (sale, R.M. Smythe, 26 February 1998, lot 409, $8,500).