Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Model

1851 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Struck medals can be made in large numbers. Each medal is formed mechanically by the force of two engraved metal dies pressing the image on to a blank disc of softer metal held between them. Struck medals are generally designed in low relief and have crisp, sharp outlines. By the 1850s artists who were not skilled die engravers could use a reducing machine to design medals. A durable copy of their plaster model, like the present piece, was fixed to the reducing machine. This scanned the model and simultaneously cut a steel die on a reduced scale.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Model
  • Frame
Materials and techniques
Plaster, moulded
Brief description
Model, moulded plaster, for the reverse of 1851 Exhibition Council Medal, by Pierre Antoine Hippolyte Bonnardel, France, 1851
Physical description
Circular roundel model (with frame) depicting, in low relief, an allegorical scene of a female figure representing Britannia crowning two others representing Industry and Commerce.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 22.6cm
Object history
Previously unregistered object (Lost 645) held in Section
Subjects depicted
Summary
Struck medals can be made in large numbers. Each medal is formed mechanically by the force of two engraved metal dies pressing the image on to a blank disc of softer metal held between them. Struck medals are generally designed in low relief and have crisp, sharp outlines. By the 1850s artists who were not skilled die engravers could use a reducing machine to design medals. A durable copy of their plaster model, like the present piece, was fixed to the reducing machine. This scanned the model and simultaneously cut a steel die on a reduced scale.
Bibliographic references
  • Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, p. 79, pl. 122
  • Vandenbrouck-Przybylski, Melanie, ' 'These should without delay be represented in our museum' Nineteenth- and twentieth-century French medals at the V&A', The Medal, No.61, Autumn 2012, pp.21-37, fig. 1
Collection
Accession number
A.2:1, 2-2004

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Record createdAugust 3, 2004
Record URL
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