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Auction: 7023 - The Glenister Collection of British Coins & other Ancient, English & Foreign Coins & Comm Medals
Lot: 436

Wax study on slate for the Prize Medal of the Great Exhibition 1851, by Leonard Charles Wyon, Britannia, her trident, helmet and the Union shield at her side, is seated and bending forward, crowning with her left hand and raising with the other, a kneeling figure of Industry, who is presented by four standing female figures, Europe, Asia, Africa and America, 21cm., in contemporary gilt frame Estimate £ 1,000-2,000 One of Leonard Wyon´s masterpieces is without doubt this reverse for the official Prize Medal of the Great Exhibition, executed in 1851, the year he succeeded his father as Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint. A very high profile commission, the project clearly was important to the newly appointed Chief Engraver, and it is evident he lavished great care over the design. In this impressive wax model the detail is superb and the technique faultless. This highly detailed and carefully finished model is clearly not a technical aid to be used in the process of making the medal but a showpiece to demonstrate not merely the intended finished appearence of the medal, but the great technical skill of the artist. The dies for the Great Exhibition Prize Medal are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Sold for
£8,500