“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.”
William Shakespeare.
LEGACY+ART are proud to present the “The Hand of Destiny” Collection, featuring limited edition, fine art prints of original artefacts through which great lives can be celebrated and momentous history evocatively retold.
From the Moon landings to Waterloo, Churchill to the Beatles, these are artefacts that bore witness to turning points in history, be they cultural, political, sporting or intellectual achievements; these objects carry their story with them, their events carved into their very surface.
Each final print is a composite of several hundred individual photographic frames, exquisitely brought together to bring you hyper detailed, large format, archival, fine art prints that resonate with the history they have been both been part of and have witnessed.
These powerful artworks to allow you to live with both your passions and your heroes, to beautifully compliment your home and to bring you closer to the artists themselves; this stunning body of work is truly unique.
Albert Einstein’s pocket watch, and the Olympic torch from the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
60”x40” limited edition prints.
“The next great European war will probably come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans."
Otto von Bismark, 1888.
An FN 191 used in the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife by Gavrilo Pricip, an event that precipitated the First World War, two shots that led to 20 million deaths. Considered too young to be executed, he died in prison of tuberculosis four years later.
-
-
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11.
A 3 milligram glass vial containing Moon dust collected by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11.
-
-
"Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools."
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s bicorn hat, abandoned on June the18th, 1815, during his frantic retreat from the Battle of Waterloo to avoid capture by Prussian Fusiliers. It was always worn “en bataille”, so his men could always see him, with the red, white and blue cockade pinned to the brim as a symbol of the 1789-1799 revolution that led to the ambitious Corsican crowning himself Emperor in 1804.
-
-
On receiving a Nobel Prize, it is customary to give a personal artefact to the Nobel Museum; His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama explained that as a Buddhist Monk he didn’t own anything; smiling, he then handed the committee the glasses he was wearing.
-
-
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Slave shackles for a woman and small child, obscenely used on the Middle Passage to bring enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to America.
-
-
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know."
William Wiberforce.
Launer hand bag belonging to The Right Honourable The Baroness Thatcher LG OM DStJ PC FRS HonFRSC, used by her throughout her Prime Ministership.
-
-
“Watch your thoughts, for they will become actions. Watch your actions, for they'll become your habits. Watch your habits for they will forge your character. Watch your character, for it will make your destiny.”
Margaret Thatcher.
Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral, planned for years under the codename Operation “Hope Not”, started on Tuesday the 26th of January, 1965. When lying in state, 321,360 people came to pay their respects, with the queue being more than one mile long for most of the time.
This is the flag that was draped over his coffin, see below.
-
-
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense."
Sir Winston Churchill.
Green velvet saddle, used by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I on her procession to Bristol in 1545.
-
-
“Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak, you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind."
Elizabeth I.
The bullet that killed Admiral Lord Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar, removed below decks by his surgeon William Beatty, who went on to wear it in this locket for the rest of his life before its being gifted to the Crown; it resides in Windsor Castle.
-
-
"England expects that every man will do his duty."
Admiral Lord Nelson.
“A lifetime of training for just ten seconds."
Jesse Owens.
The Olympic Torch from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Engraved on the torch is both the eagle of the National Socialist German Workers' Party and the route the torch and flame was carried, from Olympia in Greece to Berlin in Germany.
-
-
The Silver Olympic Medal belonging to Luz Long, won for the high jump, where he helped Jesse Owens to qualify and was the first to congratulate him on his Gold Medal win under Hitler’s gaze.
-
-
“Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust."
Jesse Owens.
Original receipt for the first time The Beatles recorded any music in what was to become Abbey Road; organised by Brian Epstein as an audition for George Martin.
Note: “4 men @ £7”.
-
-
“Love, love me do, you know I love you, I'll always be true, so please, love me do."
John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Sergeant Charles Ewart of The Royal Scots Greys famously captured the Imperial Eagle of the French 45th Regiment of the Line at the Battle of Waterloo on June the 18th, 1815. During the charge of the Union Brigade, Ewart, a skilled swordsman, fought through French infantry, defeating a lancer, a musketeer, and a foot soldier to secure the prized standard.
60”x40” limited edition prints.
-
“I used to say of Napoleon that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men."
The Duke of Wellington.
Unopened Explorer’s Club flag from Apollo 13, returned to the Club somewhat apologetically by Jim Lovell for not having landed on the Moon; despite that, Apollo 13 and its astronauts still travelled the farthest from the Earth anyone has ever gone as they slingshot around the Moon: 248,655 miles.
-
-
"Houston, we've had a problem."
Jim Lovell, aboard Apollo 13.
Monogrammed saddle belonging to Frankie Dettori, one of the greatest jockeys of all time.
-
-
“A racehorse is the only animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time.."
Anonymous.
Sir Lewis Hamilton’s steering wheel from Portugal 2020, when he broke Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 record for the most Grand Prix ever won.
-
-
"There are only three real sports: mountain climbing, bull fighting, and motor racing. All the rest are merely games."
Ernest Hemingway.
John Lennon’s signature glasses.
-
-
“All we are saying, is give peace a chance."
John Lennon.
The medals belonging to Blair “Paddy” Mayne, co-founder of the SAS, one of only eight men in all of WWII to be awarded the Distinguished Service Order for gallantry four times.
-
-
"When you enter a room full of the enemy, shoot the first man to make a move, hostile or otherwise. He has started to think, and is therefore dangerous."
Lieutenant Colonel Blair “Paddy” Mayne.
Blair “Paddy” Mayne’s WWII identity card from his time in the Long Range Desert Group, or the “Libyan Taxi Service” as they were known. Mayne was a co-founder of the SAS with David Stirling.
-
-
“He will go down in history as the bravest man never to have been awarded the VC.”
Peter Forbes, of Paddy Mayne.
Pips from an apple, having fallen from the actual tree that Issac Newton sat under in 1666 at Woolsthorpe Manor, when he observed another such apple falling from the same tree, giving rise to his thoughts on gravity and the mathematics to describe it, that eventually would become the Newtonian Laws of Motion.
-
-
"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."
Isaac Newton.
The King’s Champion has been a ceremonial office of the Dymoke family since 1066, responsible for defending a new monarch’s right to the throne at their coronation banquet, by riding in full armour into Westminster Hall to challenge any doubters to combat. This saddle was last used in 1730.
-
-
“Pro Rege Dimico", family motto of the Dymoke family.
I fight for the King.
Alan Turing’s watch worn through his years at Bletchley Park during WWII. Leading Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis, he played a crucial role in cracking intercepted messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers. He is often referred to as “the Father of Computer Science”.
-
-
"Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of, who do the things that no one can imagine.”
Alan Turing.
The Enigma Machine; invented by Arthur Scherbius in 1918, it encrypted messages that were almost fiendishly difficult to crack. Used most notably by the Nazis in WWII and being eventually decoded by Alan Turing’s team at Bletchley Park; It is widely estimated by historians that the codebreaking work at Bletchley Park, particularly by Alan Turing and his team, shortened World War II in Europe by over two years and saved approximately 14 million lives.
-
“Those who can imagine anything, can create the impossible.”
Alan Turing.
-
"Every day, think as you wake up: today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it."
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Noël Coward’s monogrammed red bedroom slippers.
-
-
“Star quality: I don't know what it is, but I've got it."
Noël Coward.
The America’s Cup is the oldest international sporting trophy, dating back to 1851, and represents the pinnacle of competitive yacht racing.
-
-
"Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second place."
Signalman on the Royal Yacht to Queen Victoria, 1851.
Albert Einstein’s Longines pocket watch that he bought in 1946 and carried with him until his death in 1955. Named “Person of the Century” by Time Magazine, for Einstein, time was not an absolute dimension since it behaves relative to the speed of light, slowing perceptibly the closer we come to the speed of light.
-
-
“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes; when you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours. That's relativity."
Albert Einstein.
Lionel Messi’s game-worn Adidas Nemeziz Messi 19.1 boots from scoring his 644th goal for FC Barcelona against Celta Vigo on the 16th of May, 2021, the most goals ever scored by a player for an individual club.
-
-
“In football as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision."
Lionel Messi.
The Cross of Wales, photography fine art print commissioned by H.M. Charles III in celebration of, and used in, his coronation. Designed and made by Michael Lloyd, famously stating it took 267,000 hammer blows to create. It is inset with a piece of the “True Cross” given by the Vatican. The aim of creating the Cross was to bring the Anglican Churches of both England and Wales, as well as the Welsh Catholic Church, closer together.
-
-
“I believe passionately that everyone has a particular God-given ability."
King Charles III.
Charles Darwin’s walking cane, which he called his memento mori, with a whalebone shaft and carved walrus ivory skull, inset with green, cut glass, eyes.
-
-
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change."
Charles Darwin.
The NeXTcube computer that Sir Tim Berners-Lee designed the World Wide Web on, while working at the CERN laboratory in 1990.
-
-
“Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch."
Tim Berners-Lee.
Sir Lewis Hamilton’s 2020 steering wheel, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s bicorn hat.
60”x40” limited edition prints.
-
Male, female and juvenile Passenger Pigeons. In 1813 the eminent American naturalist and bird artist, John James Audubon witnessed a flock that was estimated at 1 mile wide and 240 miles long, taking 3 days to pass. The last recognised wild passenger pigeon was shot on March 24, 1900, in Pike County, Ohio, by a young boy named Press Clay Southworth using a BB gun.
-
-
“I feel I am strange to all but the birds of America."
John James Audubon.
The French Imperial eagle standard of Napoleon’s 45th Regiment of the Line, captured by Sergeant Charles Ewart of The Royal Scots Greys at the Battle of Waterloo.
-
-
“Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won: the bravery of my troops hitherto saved me from the greater evil; but to win such a battle as this of Waterloo, at the expense of so many gallant friends, could only be termed a heavy misfortune, but for the result to the public."
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.
On October 15, 1997 at 10:30am, Wing Commander Andy Green started his second run at Black Rock Desert in ThrustSSC; it was exactly 50 years and 1 day after the sound barrier was broken in aerial flight by Chuck Yeager. He is the first man to break the sound barrier on land, and still holds the land speed record of 763.035 mph to this day.
-
-
“Nobody told me my arse was going to be on fire."
Wing Commander Andy Green OBE.
Oscar Wilde’s sword stick, made by James Smith & Sons, given to him by Lord Alfred Douglas, “Bosie”, his then lover, on the opening night of “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Valentine’s Day, the14th of February, 1895.
-
-
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!"
Algernon, from “The Importance of Being Earnest”.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given, than to explore the power they have to change it."
Muhammad Ali.
Boxing glove with rip, belonging to Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, from his infamous fight with Henry Cooper in 1963.
-
-
Framed boxing gloves belonging to Henry Cooper, from his infamous bout with Cassius Clay in 1963.
-
-
“You are in there to win at all costs. It's the kiIIer instinct."
Sir Henry Cooper.
The Ashes gift, highly contended between England and Australia cricket teams since 1883. Said to contain the ashes of a cricket bail taken from England’s astonishing defeat to Australia in 1882, prompting the newspaper article citing “the death of English Cricket”.
-
-
"In Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P.
N.B. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."
Reginald Shirley Brooks.
Margot Fonteyn’s pointe shoes, from the first time she danced on The Royal Ballet stage, in Covent Garden, 1939.
-
-
“If everyone knew how physically cruel dancing really is, nobody would watch—only those people who enjoy bull fights.”
Dame Margot Fonteyn.
Sigmund Freud’s glasses, left on his desk after his death in his London House, in 1939. His study remained entirely as he left it, preserved by his daughter Anna.
-
-
"One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."
Sigmund Freud.
David Puttnam’s Best Picture Oscar for “Chariots of Fire”, 1982.
-
-
“In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is a glory to be found if one has done his best.”
Eric Liddell.
Moments before four minutes past six, on the evening of the 6th of May 1954, Roger Bannister crossed the finish line at Iffley Road Track in Oxford, setting a new World record and breaking the four minute mile. As the announcer read out the time, the crowd erupted as soon as they heard three, and the time keeper holding the stop watch above dropped it, shattering its glass and freezing the record time forever. It would be several minutes before Bannister heard his actual time, a time that up till then had been considered impossible.
-
-
"However ordinary each of us may seem, we are all in some way special, and can do things that are extraordinary, perhaps until then…even thought impossible.”
Sir Roger Bannister.
Hand-written and signed team sheet: this is the first team sheet Alex Ferguson made for Manchester United, against Oxford United on the 8th of November, 1986.
-
-
"Hard work will always overcome natural talent, when natural talent doesn’t work hard enough.”
Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Right Honourable Sir Winston Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC: a partially La Corona smoked cigar.
-
-
“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
Sir Winston Churchill.
A British old penny, used by the Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst for the coin toss of 1966 football World Cup final between England and Germany, on the 30th of July.
-
-
"Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over……….. it is now!"
Kenneth Wolstenholme.
-
“I am the greatest."
Muhammad Ali.
Cassius Clay, boxing glove from his infamous fight with Henry Cooper, 1963.
60”x40” limited edition prints.
-