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Martin Folkes

Medal
1742 (made)
Artist/Maker
Hamerani, Ottone (made)
Place of origin
Rome (made)

This medal depicting the head of Martin Folkes (1690-1754) was made by Ottone Hamerani probably in 1742. It is likely that the medal was struck as a mark of esteem in Rome around the time that Folks was made a member of the French Academy in 1742.
Folks was an English antiquary and collector. he was President of the Royal Society between 1741 and 1753, and President of the Society of Antiquaries from 1750.


Object details

Categories
Coins & Medals
Portraits
Sculpture
Object type
Medal
TitleMartin Folkes (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Bronze medal, portrait of Martin Folkes, by Ottone Hamerani, English, probably 1742
Physical description
Obverse: head of Martin Folkes (1690-1754), President of the Royal Society, facing right. Inscription.
Reverse: A sphinx with a crescent moon her side lies in front of a landscape strewn with classical ruins, including the tomb of Caius Sestus, beneath a radiant sun. Inscription.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 3.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'MARTINVS FOLKES' (obverse)
  • 'SUA SIDERA NORUNT: ROMAE. A.L. / S [?].742' (reverse)
    Translation
    ' The constellation acknowledges him as their own: at Rome in the year of light, 5742 (AD 1738 or 1742)'
Object history
Given by Professor J. Hull Grundy and Mrs. Ann Hull Grundy, in 1978.
Production
probably 1742
Subjects depicted
Sphinx
Landscape
Ruins
Tomb
Suns
Folkes, Martin (Dr,)
Summary
This medal depicting the head of Martin Folkes (1690-1754) was made by Ottone Hamerani probably in 1742. It is likely that the medal was struck as a mark of esteem in Rome around the time that Folks was made a member of the French Academy in 1742.
Folks was an English antiquary and collector. he was President of the Royal Society between 1741 and 1753, and President of the Society of Antiquaries from 1750.
Bibliographic references
  • Hawkins, E., Medallic Illustrations of the History of Great Britain and Ireland to the death of George II, 1885, vol II, p. 571
  • Eisler, William, "The Construction of the Image of Martin Folkes (1690-1754) Part I: Art, science and Masonic sociability in the age of the Grand Tour", The Medal, no. 58 (Spring 2011), pp. 4-29, p. 5 ill. 1.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.99-1978

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O313349/martin-folkes-medal-hamerani-ottone/
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