Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 117 19-20 May 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
STUART. Sir William Parkhurst. d. 1667. AR Cliché Medallion (77.5mm, 11.74 g, 12h). By Thomas Rawlins. Dated 1644. Facing half-length bust, holding medal of Charles I; in banner around GVILIEL : PARKHVRST · EQV : AVRA · CVSTOS · CAMB : ET · MONET : TOT : ANGL : 1623; all within ornate frame with floral decoration; below, tablet inscribed Rawlins Sculps; · OXON · · 1644 · to left and right / Incuse of obverse. MI 311/40; Scher, Pursuit 121 (includes wooden case of different design). A large medal of superb workmanship. Slight crimp to left of head. Otherwise toned. Near EF. In handsome lignum vitae turned presentation box. Extremely rare.
Ex C. Foley (Wolley & Wallis, 16 October 2014), 266; Morton & Eden, 27 June 2006, 416 .
Sir William Parkhurst (d. 1667) was a loyal servant of both James I and Charles I. He served on a number diplomatic missions to the court of Savoy in the 1610s and was knighted in 1619. Granted joint wardenship of the Mint in 1623 he was elected to the House of Commons as the member for St. Ives two years later. Parkhurst was granted wardenship of the Mint for life in 1629 and for a time he resided in the Tower.
When Parliament took control of the Mint in August 1642 Parkhurst was already in the King's camp and supervised the establishment of royalist mints at Shrewsbury and later Oxford. It was there in 1644 that Thomas Rawlins created this exquisite cliché medallion. Rawlins depicts Parkhurst holding a badge of Charles I almost certainly a work of Rawlins himself. The solemn, characterful portrait is framed by a cartouche of floral festoons and lion's heads. The treatment of this ornate frame bears similarities with Rawlins's other masterpieces of 1644; the celebrated 'City View' Crown and the 'Cartouche' Pound.
After the fall of Oxford in 1646 Parkhurst was arrested and heavily fined by Parliament. He retired to his estates in Kent for the duration of the Commonwealth regaining the wardenship of the Mint on the Restoration in 1660. He remained in office until his death in 1667. He is buried in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower.
Ex C. Foley (Wolley & Wallis, 16 October 2014), 266; Morton & Eden, 27 June 2006, 416 .
Sir William Parkhurst (d. 1667) was a loyal servant of both James I and Charles I. He served on a number diplomatic missions to the court of Savoy in the 1610s and was knighted in 1619. Granted joint wardenship of the Mint in 1623 he was elected to the House of Commons as the member for St. Ives two years later. Parkhurst was granted wardenship of the Mint for life in 1629 and for a time he resided in the Tower.
When Parliament took control of the Mint in August 1642 Parkhurst was already in the King's camp and supervised the establishment of royalist mints at Shrewsbury and later Oxford. It was there in 1644 that Thomas Rawlins created this exquisite cliché medallion. Rawlins depicts Parkhurst holding a badge of Charles I almost certainly a work of Rawlins himself. The solemn, characterful portrait is framed by a cartouche of floral festoons and lion's heads. The treatment of this ornate frame bears similarities with Rawlins's other masterpieces of 1644; the celebrated 'City View' Crown and the 'Cartouche' Pound.
After the fall of Oxford in 1646 Parkhurst was arrested and heavily fined by Parliament. He retired to his estates in Kent for the duration of the Commonwealth regaining the wardenship of the Mint on the Restoration in 1660. He remained in office until his death in 1667. He is buried in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower.