This is the final version of the medal commemorating John Charles Robinson (1824-1913) that the V&A commissioned from the artist Felicity Powell in 2002, with funds donated from an anonymous donor. Robinson was Curator of Sculpture at the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) and acquired many important works for the collection in the 1850s and 1860s. On the reverse of the actual medal the artist has used as inspiration the hands from the carved figures in the Annunciation by Arnolfo di Cambio of about 1300. Robinson bought this work for the Museum in 1861 (see inv.no.7563-1861). The reverse replicates the handwriting of John Charles Robinson taken from his letter, dated 6 September 1886, Madrid to the Museum, 'Now Is the Time'. The final version of the medal was cast using the ceramic shell technique. This is an industrial method ideally suited to casting small-scale objects that was first used by artists in the 1950s. The wax is surrounded by a shell of ceramic particles bound in colloidal silica. As the shell is porous there is no need to construct 'risers' to vent gas given off during casting. For further entries relating to the processes involved in the making of the medal, see inv.nos. A.5 to A.9-2002, and A.11-2004.