RARE PIPE RACK CARVED FROM OAK WOOD TAKEN FROM ADMIRAL NELSON'S FLAGSHIP, THE H.M.S. VICTORY, ALONG WITH COPPER ASHTRAY FABRICATED FROM THE VICTORY'S COPPER HULL SHEATHING

(NELSON, Horatio). Oak Pipe Rack Carved from H.M.S. Victory Timbers. WITH: Ashtray made from the copper of the H.M.S. Victory. No place: Society for Nautical Research, circa 1910. Oak pipe rack, fashioned into the shape of an anchor with brass rings at the ends, designed to accommodate four pipes, 8 inches tall on a 7 by 3-inch base, with carved identification at bottom center: "H.M.S. VICTORY." Ashtray measures 4-3/4 inches in diameter. $6500.

Rare pipe rack carved from timbers of Admiral Nelson's flagship, H.M.S. Victory, to help fund restoration efforts to preserve the historic vessel early in the 20th century. Together with an ashtray fashioned out of copper hull sheathing from the Victory, with "Victory Copper" in raised letters.

The Battle of Trafalgar was a spectacular success for the British navy over the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies, but the victory was tainted by the death of Admiral Lord Nelson, shot during the engagement by a French musketeer. Nelson's flagship H.M.S. Victory had been badly damaged in the fight and was towed to Gibraltar by H.M.S. Neptune for repairs, before carrying Nelson's body to England where, after lying in state at Greenwich, he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral on January 9, 1806. After delivering Nelson's body to London, the Victory was repaired and remained in active service until 1812, when she was moored at Portsmouth. The ship then served as a training vessel for some time.

By the turn of the 20th century, Victory had deteriorated so badly that, in 1910, a group of enthusiasts established the Society for Nautical Research to help fund restoration of the ship. (By the time Frank H. Mason published The Book of British Ships in 1911, Victory's condition was described as "nothing short of an insult.") By 1921, she was in a very poor state, and the "Save the Victory" campaign was started, with shipping magnate Sir James Caird becoming a major contributor. The essential parts of the project were not completed until well after the close of the Second World War, with the very last repairs finally complete in 2005, just in time for the bicentennial of Trafalgar. Today, the Victory is the oldest commissioned warship in the world and attracts over 350,000 visitors per year as a museum ship. To help fund its restoration efforts, the Society for Nautical Research took unusable parts, such as nails and cooper sheathing, and melted them down to be refashioned as souvenirs. This pipe rack is among the most elaborate of these; both items were fashioned out of materials from the Victory. This pipe rack is from a generations-old British military and naval family collection; featured in an April 2015 article in The Mariner's Mirror, "Benjamin T. Hill's HMS Victory Collection," by Rodney Hilton Brown.

Pipe rack with typical age-wear with some minor oxidation to metal rings; ashtray in fine condition. Together, an exceptional commemorative set.