Adam's HOMAN POTTERTON A LIFETIME OF COLLECTING 7th September 2021

54 53 LAURENCE GAHAGAN (1756-1817) Portrait Bust of Lord Nelson White statuary marble, 28cm high (11”) Signed € 2,500 - 4,000 Listed in Strickland as a sculptor, L. Geoghegan of Anglesea Street in Dublin was given a premium of four pounds by the Dublin Society in 1756 for “a piece of sculpture”. Strick- land surmised that this was probably the marble statuette of Rubens, which at that time belonged to W.T. Kirkpatrick of Donacomper, Celbridge and which is signed ‘L. Geoghe- gan 1756’. He altered his name to Gahagan on reaching London. In 1777 he received a premium of thirty guineas from the Society of Arts for a cast of a figure and exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1798 busts of Admiral Sir Thomas Paisley and Sir Horatio Nelson. He continued to exhibit at the RA until 1817. Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, (1758 – 1805), known simply as Admiral Nelson, was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories, partic- ularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was wounded in combat, losing sight in one eye in Corsica at the age of 35, and most of one arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife when he was 38. The following year he won a decisive victory over the French at the Battle of the Nile and remained in the Mediterranean to support the Kingdom of Naples against a French invasion. His name is synonymous with the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, which is regarded as Britain’s greatest naval victory but Nelson, aboard HMS Victory, was fatally wounded by a French sharpshooter shortly before victory. His body was brought back to England where he was accorded a state funeral.