Head-and-part-shoulders terracotta bust of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, with Nelson's head tilted slightly forward and half-turned to his left, but looking slightly upward.

The shoulders are bare and cut off at approximately outer collar-bone point. The piece is similarly cut off at the back of the shoulders and at mid-chest level, which forms the base (no plinth or socle). The hair is shown medium long, falling forward in natural disorder with no queue and the breast is shown flat and slightly convex, not modelled.

There is an imperfectly legible inscription on the reverse which appears to be ' L Gahagan Sculptor London'. It may be the original from which SCU0096 was cast in bronze. It was purchased for the NMM by Sir James Caird through Spink's at a Sotheby's, London, sale of 30 May 1933 (lot 33).

Lawrence Gahagan (1735 -1855) was an Irish sculptor who came to England and founded a sculpting and modelling dynasty (three of his sons became sculptors). Few of Lawrence's works are dated and confusion arises from the fact that both he and Lucius signed themselves just 'L. Gahagan'. He had a reputation for small bronze portrait busts.