Something Beautiful, for the Good of the Day

Sometimes, when my day is just ok, or I feel a bit melancholy, I search for The Beautiful. It lifts my spirits. Beauty can be found everywhere, and sometimes, in very different places than one would expect.

Take Lord Nelson's bi-corn hat, for example. (Bicorn as it only has two sides, as opposed to the tri-corn). It's not the hat itself that is beautiful, but the particular ornament that graced it, depicted in the famous painting of Nelson by Lemuel Francis Abbott.

The ornament is called a "Chelengk", a Turkish decoration of the Ottoman Empire, usually worn on turbans, but in this case, given to Nelson by the Sultan Selim III honoring Nelson at the Battle of the Nile, 1798.

This Chelengk is designed in diamonds with flowers and a little bow tying 13 rays that symbolize the ships captured at the battle. Not only is it remarkable in itself, but it has a little clockwork spring that allows it to vibrate and catch the sunlight as the wearer goes forth, adding extra sparkle to its delicate beauty.

The original was part of the National Maritime Museum's Nelson Collection until 1950, when it was stolen. It was never recovered, perhaps disassembled for the value of the stones. But it is beautiful, and gives me joy to think of Lord Nelson wearing it, standing on deck against a turquoise blue sea, 

his chelengk glinting in the sun!