Lot 122: John (Inigo?) Wright (d. London 1820)

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854), wearing the uniform of the 7th Hussars, blue coat with gold frogging, breast star of the Guelphic Order of Hanover and of the Orders of the Garter and Bath on his pelisse, hung over his left shoulder, the sashes of the latter Orders across his chest, cross of the Austrian Order of Maria Theresa on a red and white ribbon, cross of the Russian Order of St. George on an orange and black ribbon and cross of the Dutch Military Order of William on a orange and blue ribbon, all about his neck, the Waterloo Medal and Army Gold Medal pinned to his chest
gold frame, the reverse with gold mounted blue glass border around two locks of hair on opalescent glass
Oval, 83mm. (3 1/4ins.) high

H.M., 1999
P.A., 1999
S.N.P.G., 2000-2003

S.P.N.F., no.96

The present lot is based upon a life-size portrait of the Marquess by Sir Thomas Lawrence. This portrait painted in 1817 and exhibited at the Royal Academy, London the same year, hangs at the Marquess' home Plas Newydd. A replica can also be found at Apsley House, London, home of the Duke of Wellington. The present lot varies in the way that the medals and sashes have been depicted, whereas the original oil shows the crosses overlapping and the sashes crossing Garter over Bath, the present lot shows the crosses in an almost vertical line and the sashes crossing Bath over Garter.
The Marquess has an extensive icongraphy, including portrait miniatures by Engleheart (1805), Hermann (1851) and Grimaldi (before 1812). The first of these was stolen from Plas Newydd in 1965; the second, the property of the Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham was sold Sotheby's, London, 11 March 1993; and the third, known only from the Rev. Alexander Grimaldi's Catalogue of 1873, is untraced.

Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey and 2nd Earl of Uxbridge (1768-1854) Field Marshal & Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. As Lord Paget, Anglesey served with great distinction as cavalry commander under Sir John Moore during the retreat to Corunna in 1809, the 'Dunkirk' of the Peninsular war. He was prevented from serving under Wellington in the Peninsula because of the scandal caused when he ran off with Wellington's brother Henry's wife Lady Charlotte Wellesley. Wellington, though, was happy to accept him as a subordinate for the Waterloo campaign, crushing a colleague who reminded him of Anglesey's reputation with 'I'll take good care he don't run away with me: I don't care about anyone else.' On the battlefield of Waterloo on June 18th, 1815, the Duke of Wellington and his cavalry commander, now, Earl of Uxbridge, the most brilliant cavalryman of his generation, were side by side on horseback surveying the scene. Suddenly one of the last cannon shots of the engagement flew over the neck of Wellington's horse and hit Uxbridge's right knee smashing the joint to bits. 'By God, sir,' said Uxbridge, 'I've lost my leg!' The Iron Duke eyed the mangled mess for a moment before saying, 'By God, sir, so you have!' and turned his Spy-glass back to the retreating French. Or so the popular story had it, though in reality Wellington supported Uxbridge in the saddle until help arrived. Uxbridge, who was forty-seven years old and had already had several horses killed under him, was taken to headquarters, where the surgeons decided the leg must come off. He bore the appalling operation with the utmost coolness, saying he had enjoyed a long run as a beau and it was only fair to the young men not to cut them out any longer. According to one of his aides, he never moved or complained, though he did say calmly at one point that he thought the instrument was not very sharp, and when the horror was over, his pulse rate was unaltered. The severed limb was reverently interred in a nearby garden. In recognition of his services at Waterloo, Paget was created Marquess of Anglessey, 4th July 1815. On 27th February 1828, he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, a post he held intermittently until 1833. By his two wives, he had 18 children, and on his death, his eldest son Henry succeeded him as Marquess.