by Ralph Roberts
This ceramic bust of Napoleon was made in Staffordshire, most likely in the Staffordshire Potteries that now comprise the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The bust is made of pearlware, and the design appears to have derived from a standard template – other examples exist comprising the same tunic detail and portraiture, but with a red tunic rather than blue. The piece pictured is held by the Bowes Museum, and its estimated manufacture date is cited as 1805-1810.
This is particularly interesting, as this dating would imply that it was made after the resumption of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803, and therefore that, despite this, ceramics producers in Staffordshire still had enough demand to make busts of the nation’s chief enemy! Fear of invasion by Napoleonic forces gripped much of Britain after the breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens in May 1803; in Britain, as across much of Europe, the pre-existing notion of Napoleon as being Satanic, either the Devil incarnate or the son of Satan, gained new vigour once war broke out again. For many in Britain, Napoleon was the sworn enemy, and had been since his appointment as First Consul in 1799 as a product of a revolution that had dispensed with the ‘proper’ forms of constitutional monarchy. However, for some Bonaparte was a fascinating character, and a man to be venerated rather than castigated. Perhaps it is this market that the bust was intended for.
In October 1801, Britain and France announced the Treaty of London, a prelude to a formal peace. In March 1802, the Treaty of Amiens was signed, a declaration of peace that would last until May 1803. During this cessation of hostilities, British tourists were a constant presence in France. For many visitors to France Napoleon was the main attraction, and British tourists could be found waiting to see him at public events where he was known to be in attendance. In Britain itself, positive views of Napoleon could be easily found in published sources, including within the pages of government newspapers. Tourist trips to France and flattering press of Napoleon naturally declined sharply once hostilities resumed in May 1803, but they created the conditions in which this bust was produced. If the bust does date to 1805-10, it suggests that the demand for objects such as this outlasted the resumption of war, and perhaps that acclimation for Napoleon was not restricted to the period of peace among certain sections of the British public. After his final defeat in 1815, souvenirs of Napoleon were commonplace in Britain – perhaps production simply continued throughout the Napoleonic Wars and helped fuel this post-war boon.
Did you know?
Napoleon wrote a novella entitled Clisson et Eugénie in 1795, a fictionalised account of his relationship with Désirée Clary, to whom he was engaged in the same year before breaking it off after becoming involved with Joséphine. Désirée Clary would subsequently become Queen of Sweden and Norway due to her marriage to Jean Bernadotte, who became Charles XIV John of Norway and Sweden in 1818.
This summer I have been consumed by my master’s dissertation. I promised myself I wouldn’t, and truth be told I never expected I would be. In September 2018, I had anticipated researching Waterloo or the Peninsula War – as all good budding Napoleonic historians do. But of course, the first casualty of battle is always the plan. By early this year, I had concluded that I was going to research something far more niche. And so, I discovered the Fencible Regiments.
Two gems I wish to note here are as follows. The first is a series of letters written by one of the Colonels of a Fencible Regiment to the Secretary at War, demanding that he be given permanent rank in the army. Being a Fencible, his rank would otherwise expire at the end of the war, and so a series of 7 letters over nearly 18 months remain of his constant demanding for this confirmation. He specifically complains at one point that another officer ‘got the rank he now holds in purchase alone, and he held no commission in the army a few months ago.’ You can almost feel the frustration.
As you can imagine, that was probably the highlight of my week. Although, of course, after the archives had closed in the afternoon my wanderings around Edinburgh were very enjoyable. I was able to squeeze in visits to the National Portrait Gallery, and to St Giles’ Cathedral. I even managed to convince myself to enter a purveyor of Scottish whisky – oh the horror(!)
As a first-time visitor to Coalbrookdale, I could’ve been mistaken for Owen Wilson, considering how many times I said, “wow.” I mean, who knew that Ironbridge is so much more than literally just an iron bridge? Imagine my surprise when I learned that the Ironbridge Gorge museum network is actually comprised of ten separate heritage sites, including the Blists Hill Victorian Town, the Coalport China Museum, and the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, where I spent the majority of my far-too-short time in Shropshire.
Set upon the grounds which served as the birthplace of industry, the Museum of Iron illustrates the lives and work of the family of Abraham Darby. As a staunch Quaker, studying and developing the craft of a skilled tradesman was an obvious path for Abraham Darby. Darby’s notoriety surpassed that of an ordinary artisan, however, when he perfected a method of smelting iron in a blast furnace which was fueled by coke as opposed to charcoal.
Admittedly, I knew very little about Coalbrookdale prior to my visit, but after driving past the Abraham Darby Academy and the Abraham Darby Sports and Leisure Centre, I felt it was safe to assume that the men who bore the name were a pretty big deal. What I did not anticipate, however, was how important women were in securing Abraham Darby’s place in history. In the Quaker faith and in the Darby family business, regardless of any legislative factors, men and women were acknowledged as equal, which offered all individuals access to the same educational and employment opportunities. As this is a history blog rather than a political rant, I shall continue onward, with no further comments or comparisons.
Grade I Listed status), and touring the Darby family houses, situated atop the hill alongside the workers’ quarters really puts into perspective both the massive scale of the family’s iron-making operation and its commitment to the Ironbridge Gorge community. For less casual history buffs, the Coalbrookdale Research Library and Archive house rich primary resources, including personal diaries, private correspondence, photographic collections, and local ephemera which reinforce the region’s importance in the Industrial Revolution.
We had visited the museum as part of the project’s military history aspect, and the Royal Green Jackets Museum is one of several museums that ambassadors will be visiting, or indeed have already visited, over the next couple of weeks. The other museums are the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment at Dover Castle, the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum at Caernarfon Castle, and the Highlanders Museum in Fort George. The aim of the project is to create a pop-up exhibition to be displayed in the museums, highlighting the role the British Army played in this period, with a particular emphasis on the Napoleonic Wars. The exhibition hopes to ‘fill in the blanks’, so to speak, with what the current museums offer with regards to Napoleonic history, exploring the history of recruitment for the British Army among other aspects. As a military history student at the University of Kent, it is sad to see that the school curriculums never seem to truly tackle military history, and so the project hopes to introduce this vital aspect of the Age of Revolutions back into schools.
The structure of the event was simple. The course was divided up into various sections, based either on period or theme. The students spent thirty minutes on each section which was itself divided into a lecture to revise the basic facts and a discussion period where various sources were analysed. There were also frequent breaks to refresh both mind and body, which stopped the students from losing too much focus. The source section was where Ben and I swung into action, roaming around the room attempting to broaden and improve the students understanding and analytical skills. 
Five minutes before the end, the organizers allowed us to give a short talk on the Age of Revolution project which we used to spread the word about the projects aims and achievements. The students seemed interested although this may have been simply relief that their ordeal was almost at an end! With that the day ended, with the students departing for their homes and Ben and I for the tube in a successful attempt to beat the rush hour throng. 
