Nelson & His World

Noticed this on UK ebay. Note spelling - I'm the last person to pick up on such things, but it makes you wonder how genuine an item is...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SS:GB:1123

This doesn't look like the mourning rings that were specially made and distributed by Nelson's executors after his death. (See the earlier thread on the mourning ring that was auctioned a few weeks ago and made £18,000 + premium.)

Of course, that doesn't mean that the relic isn't genuine: in 1805, a lock of Nelson's hair set in a brooch which had belonged to the Hardy family was auctioned. Similarly, this family might have commissioned their own setting for their lock of hair.

It will be interesting to see what it makes.

Mis-spellings - they annoy me too. (Snobby?) Even more annoying is the hyperbolic sales patter that accompanies such offerings. 'A good wine needs no bush' etc.

Having read the sales patter a little more carefully, I note there is no provenance regarding the lock of hair, and the ring is inscribed with two names, with no mention of Nelson, and dates a few years after Trafalgar.
I suspect this was a mourning ring in memory of these two people and the hair belonged to one or both of them. Maybe 'ring with hair belonging to someone who wrote a letter to Lord Nelson' would be nearer the mark!

The bidding had reached £400 when the sale ended, though the item remained unsold, having failed to reach its reserve.

I've done a quick check through various dealers' sites, and it appears that ordinary Georgian mourning rings go for between £400 and £800. The 'Nelson connection' hasn't worked any magic here! Unlike the £18,000 hammer price that the authenticated ring reached in Crewkerne a few weeks ago.

Guess what, it is back - with an £825.00 "buy it now".

(You have to be very careful out there...)