This is a faience (a type of china made from glass) mug with a naïve (unprofessional) portrait of Nelson.

The cup bears the inscription ‘In memory of Lord Nelson’. Thousands of souvenir items like mugs were made before and after Nelson’s death. The British public was very fond of Nelson for two reasons - had saved them from the French, who the English had feared and hated for over a century, and he was also very human – he had a mixed-up private life, he had been wounded in service and was always ill, he occasionally lost his battles and his personality was a mass of contradictions. The British responded to him and made him their hero for these reasons.