The Waterloo Vase in the garden of Buckingham Palace

Now gracing the gardens of Buckingham Palace in central London, the Waterloo Vase is a 15-foot stone urn carved from a single piece of Carrara marble. It was initially presented to Napoleon I, who intended to have it carved in celebration of anticipated future military victories. However, the Emperor's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo changed the course of the work, and the uncarved vase was given to the Prince Regent, who later became George IV. Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, presented the unfinished tribute in 1815.

The sculptor Richard Westmacott was commissioned to decorate the vase with reliefs celebrating the victory at Waterloo, but the plan to place it in the Waterloo Gallery at Windsor Castle proved unrealisable because the weight of the vase was greater than the gallery's floors could bear. It was therefore given to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Considering the vase surplus to its requirements, the gallery placed it first in Hyde Park and then into storage at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The National Gallery finally returned the white elephant to the sovereign in 1906, and Edward VII had the vase placed outside in Buckingham Palace Garden, where it remains. The vase features reliefs of George III on his throne and Napoleon unhorsed. As a Grade I listed structure, the marble shows signs of severe erosion from atmospheric pollution, with restoration work undertaken in the early 21st century.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons