Who was THE man of the twentieth century? I suspect that the name that will be remembered long after all others are forgotten is that of Adolf Hitler, to the eternal shame of the German nation. But to my mind the hero of the twentieth century was Sir Winston Churchill, whose inspirational leadership saved Britain and western civilization from the poisonous tentacles of evil intent on devouring Europe.
In the nineteenth century, the Duke of Wellington was the hero who saved Britain--and indeed Europe--from aggression, and today he is still remembered for his victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. But Staffordshire potters were slow to pay tribute to this great man. Despite Wellington's fame, the only figure I have seen that is definitively identified as him is the figure below, currently in the Potteries Museum. As you see, "Duke Wellington" has been scratched into the paint on the base, so there can be no argument.
When it comes to busts, we get somewhat luckier. Indeed, Wellington was modeled in bust form---but, whereas the potters created multiple variations of busts of other men who were long-dead and rather obscure, the bust shown below is their only depiction of Wellington. We can be sure the bust is Wellington because DUKE OF WELLINGTON is impressed on the front of the socle--impossible to see in this photo, I know.
I was intrigued to find a plaster version of Nolleken's bust in the collection of the Boston Athenaeum, gifted in 1817. At just over 22" in size, it (or another just like it) may well have been the design source for the 22" pottery bust in the Potteries Museum.
With peace secured after Waterloo, Wellington re-entered politics. Known as the Iron Duke because of his fiery resolve, he served as prime minister for two years and died in 1852. From the 1840s, with the Duke in his final years, there seems to have been an awakening appreciation of his contribution to his nation, and Victorian potters portrayed Wellington as the elder statesman that he was.