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Prize Medal for the 1862 London International Exhibition

Medal
1862 (struck)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Commissioners awarded only two types of bronze medals for the 1862 London International Exhibition. The larger of the two was the Prize medal. Leonard Charles Wyon was paid £6,409 for supplying the official medals; he designed the reverse of the medal himself, and had them struck in the minting facilities of Messrs Pinches.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePrize Medal for the 1862 London International Exhibition (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Brief description
Prize medal made for the London International Exhibition of 1862 with reverse composition incorporating Britannia, inscribed to Henry Cole C.B. Class XXIX, struck bronze, by Daniel Maclise RA and Leonard Charles Wyon, London 1862. The medal is contained in a leather covered box.
Physical description
Bronze medal with reverse relief design depicting Brittania and obverse inscription surrounded by a detailed oak wreath. The medal is contained in a leather covered box, decorated with gold and blind lines on the lid; with blue velvet lining and silk inside lid.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 7.7cm
Production typeLimited edition
Marks and inscriptions
'HENRY COLE C.B. CLASS XXIX [29]' (Inscribed around the outside edge)
Credit line
Donated by Sir Henry Cole
Object history
The Commissioners awarded only two types of medal for the 1862 London International Exhibition. The larger of the two was this Prize medal. Medallist and die-cutter Leonard Charles Wyon was paid £6,409 for supplying the official medals; he designed the reverse of the medal himself, and had them struck in bronze at the minting facilities of Messrs Pinches. The Scottish artist Daniel Maclise designed the allegorical scene on the obverse, a complex composition for such a small medium; he was most renowned for his large scale murals in the Palace of Westminster.
Production
Die struck from bronze
Subject depicted
Associations
Summary
The Commissioners awarded only two types of bronze medals for the 1862 London International Exhibition. The larger of the two was the Prize medal. Leonard Charles Wyon was paid £6,409 for supplying the official medals; he designed the reverse of the medal himself, and had them struck in the minting facilities of Messrs Pinches.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Brown, Lawrence. British Historical Medals 1837-1901 - Vol II, The Reign of Queen Victoria. London: 1987 P.241 no.2747
  • Cole, A.S. and Cole, H, Fifty Years of Public Works by Sir Henry Cole, K.C.B. accounted for in his deeds, speeches and writings, 2 vols (London: Bell, 1884)
  • pp.191-210 Bonython, Elizabeth and Burton,Anthony The great exhibitor: the life and work of Henry Cole, London: V&A publications 2003 602.AD.0711
  • Report of the Commissioners for the exhibition of 1862, to the Right Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart., G.C.B., ... Great Britain. Her Majesty's Commissioners of the International Exhibition of 1862 London : Printed by G.E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode, 1863. "Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty."
  • Greenhalgh, Paul. Ephemeral Vistas: The Expositions Universelles, Great Exhibitions and World’s Fairs, 1851-39. Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1988.
  • Findling, John E., and Kimberley D. Pelle, eds. Historical Dictionary of World Fairs and Expositions, 1851-1988. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
  • Allen, Leslie Lewis The World's Show: Coincraft's Catalogue of Crystal Palace Medals and Tokens, 1851-1936, London: 2000.
  • International Exhibition 1862 Medals and Honourable mentions Awarded by the International Juries / With A List of Jurors and Report of the Council of Chairman. London : Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1862
Other number
55.CC.30 - NAL Pressmark
Collection
Library number
38041800446874

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Record createdFebruary 17, 2014
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