Patch box

Oval patch box with a mirror inside the lid, commemorating Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805). The surface is enamelled, the base and sides royal blue. The lid is painted with Britannia seated mourning beside a coffin sprouting laurel branches, the sea and a ship in the background. A hand coming down from the clouds holds a scroll inscribed: 'Britain thy foe is Vanquish'd / but the Victor died 1805'. The lid has a blue border with white spots.