Relic from Lord Nelson’s Flagship Victory 1805. This is purportedly a fragment of the wreath that marked the spot where Lord Nelson died when he was shot and wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21,1805. Nelson was on his flagship, the H.M.S. Victory, leading a British fleet against the French when a sharpshooter high up on the French ship Redoubtable fired a shot which pierced Nelson’s body, went through one of his lungs, and shattered Lord Nelson’s backbone in the process. Lord Nelson died three hours later, at 4:30 pm on the 21st, and this set off a large to-do to mark the life and death of one of the greatest naval figures in British military history.The wreath surrounds an oval portrait of Lord Nelson and the inscription on the gilt frame to the left of Nelson’s portrait reads “Fragment of wreath from the spot where Nelson fell when wounded on the Battle of Trafalgar”, so this is a relic to mark the spot where Lord Nelson died. The spot is currently marked by a plaque on the deck of the Victory to show where Nelson died, and we don’t know when the first wreath - laying ceremony was held on the Victory to mark his death, but wreath-laying ceremonies have been held for many years to honor the memory and mark the spot where Lord Nelson died. After the battle of Trafalgar the corpse of the Admiral Lord Nelson was placed in spirits for the purpose of being conveyed to his native land; Lord Collingwood wanted to put Nelson’s body on another ship to be transported back to England, but the crew of the Victory protested because they felt Admiral Nelson had fought with them and they should be responsible for bringing Lord Nelson’s body back to England for burial. Lord Collingwood acceded to their wishes, and the Victory left for England after stopping for repairs at Gibraltar, and once the Victory made port in England, the body of Lord Nelson was taken out of the spirits in which it was preserved. Reports say that no variation appeared on his body, except that his lips and ankles were a little discolored. A shirt, silk stockings, and his uniform breeches were put on the corpse, a white cambric handkerchief was tied around the neck and another around his forehead to the back of his head. His body was then placed in a coffin made out of the main-mast of the L'Orient, which blew up at the battle of the Nile; the coffin was six feet long, but rather narrow, and the outside of the coffin was covered with black cloth and the insidelined with white silk and stuffed with cotton. A state funeral was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Thursday, January 9, 1806, and if the legend on the inscription is true, this is one of the few relics left over from the death of Lord Nelson on the Victory. The frame measures 10 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. wide and the wreath is under glass, and we’ve left the back of the frame intact so as not to disturb the portrait or the wreath. A remarkable relic to mark the spot where Lord Nelson died, and a significant piece of British naval history. Overall size: 11 x 9 in. Image size: 9 x 7 in.