Figurehead
Unknown Artist
A polychrome full-length figurehead of the mythical Greek messenger Nike (goddess of Victory) from the front of the funeral car built to carry the body of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson. The carving of a dark-haired, semi-naked female figure of 'Victory/Nike' is a direct link to HMS Victory (1765) and the naval victory at Trafalgar. Nike holds a victor's laurel wreath in her raised right hand and a palm frond in her left, which was carried in ancient Roman triumphal processions after a great victory. Her white classical robe is knotted at the waist and is bisected by the supporting beakhead bracket.
The funeral car took Nelson's body to St Paul's Cathedral on 9 January 1806. The Morning Post of 8 January 1806 described the funeral car as 'decorated with Escutchions, Bannerolls and Emblematical devices'. This is the largest of the few elements saved (see also REL0177.1, REL0177.2) when the car was dismantled as decayed in about 1826, after spending the 20 years since Nelson's funeral on display in the Painted Hall at Greenwich.
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection