UPDATE: THIS MADE £13,000 AT HAMMER
The Armorial ‘hatchment’ for Anglo-Irish military officer, statesman and twice-serving UK Prime Minister Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) at Dreweatts fine furniture sale on September 10 and 11. A hatchment is a panel on which a coat of arms of a deceased person is temporarily displayed and lot 414 is estimated at £4,000-£6,000. It bears the motto ‘Virtutis Fortuna Comes’ (Fortune favours the brave). Wellesley is revered as one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and in his military role, was one of the pivotal commanders to end the Anglo-Mysore and Napoleonic wars – most famously he is celebrated for ending the Napoleonic Wars in victory, when the Seventh Coalition defeated Napoleon at the legendary Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Born into Irish aristocracy (his grandfather was Richard Wesley, 1st Baron Mornington, who served in the Irish House of Commons representing Trim in County Meath), his childhood was spent between the family homes of Mornington House in Dublin and Dangan Castle near Summerhill in County Meath.