This plaster bust of Lord Nelson painted in black is a copy of an original by Anne Seymour Damer which she is thought to have made in Naples towards the end of 1798, where Nelson stayed for a period to recover from injuries after the Battle of the Nile in September 1798. It has been suggested that this plaster copy was made by the sculptor Bartholomew Papera (d 1815) who by 1805 was advertising the sale of casts after Damer's bust at his shop in London, and in 1802 made a similar painted plaster bust for Wedgewood. Nelson is depicted wearing a high necktie and a uniform jacket with decorations with his hair tied at the back. The bust stands on rectangular base.