Mahogany medal cabinet in three tiers, English, 1760-1761, Vile and Cobb for George III

Three-tiered medal cabinet with pedimented topmost section, of mahogany, with carved, applied decoration, including the star of the Order of the Garter. All three sections are fitted with shallow drawers or trays, with circular cut-out spaces for medals or coins, lined with green baize. Originally part of a larger cabinet.

Purchased from Phillips of Hitchin. The cabinet was exhibited in the C.I.N.O.A. International Art Treasures Exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1962, no. 122, plate 88. This entry suggests that the cabinet was acquired by the Second Duke of Wellington after the Royal Collections of Coins and Medals were given to the British Museum in 1823.

The cabinet was almost certainly made for George III in about 1760 by the London firm of Vile and Cobb as part of a larger cabinet made for his collection of coins and medals. In 1761 the firm was appointed as royal cabinet-makers and the bills of the royal household record work by them to provide doors and drawers between the legs of the open stand of the 'Grand Medal Case'. In the early 19th century, presumably when George IV transferred his father's medal collection to the British Museum, new, more utilitarian cases were made for it. It was probably at this time that the Grand Medal Case was dismantled and at least two smaller cabinets made from it, of which this is one and the other is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

This medal cabinet was originally part of the 'Grand Medal Case' . The large cabinet was supplied to George III in 1760-1761 to house his large and famous collection of medals. It was almost certainly made by the partnership of William Vile and John Cobb. They were best known for very fine carved decoration as ornament. When George IV gave his father's collection to the British Museum in 1825, the medals were transferred to more workaday cabinets. It was probably then that two smaller cabinets were made from the ends of the large one. The pair to this one is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. No one knows what the middle section of the cabinet looked like or whether it survives.

On loan to the British Museum.

W.11:1 to 135-1963