St. James's Auctions
Auction 49 5 Oct 2021
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Belgium, 'A la Gloire de la Télégraphie sans Fil', bronze plaquette, 1912, by Eugène Jean de Bremaecker (1879-1963), for the Société Hollandaise-Belge des Amis de la Médaille, a girl, transparently draped, std. on telegraph wires and calling out, sun rising in the distance rev. the names of heroes and geniuses of the telegraph placed around a torch, 66.5 x 53mm., nearly extremely fine
bt. Christopher Eimer, c. 2000.
In addition to naming the 'geniuses' associated with the development of wireless telegraphy, this plaquette also names four telegraph operators who were considered to be 'wireless heroes' for using the new technology to save lives, sometimes at the expense of their own. Jack Binns (1884-1959) made the first distress call at sea on 23 January 1909 when his ship, the RMS Republic (here incorrectly listed as the SS Republic) was struck by another ship, the SS Florida. George Eccles (1873-1909) was the first telegrapher to die at sea, going down with the SS Ohio on 16 August, 1909 (here incorrectly dated to 1908) while sending distress calls. The next two names are more well-known; Harold Bride (1890-1956) and Jack Phillips (1887-1912) (here misspelled as Philips) were the wireless operators on the RMS Titanic (again incorrectly listed here as the SS Titanic), and after the sinking both men became famous for staying at their posts sending CQD and SOS distress signals until the last possible moment. This crucial use of wireless telegraphy to make and receive distress calls at sea is clearly alluded to in the figure of the young woman with one hand to her mouth and the other to her ear.
An example in silver was sold in these [Baldwin's of St. James's Auctions] rooms 18 November 2020 (lot 410).
(100-150 GBP)
bt. Christopher Eimer, c. 2000.
In addition to naming the 'geniuses' associated with the development of wireless telegraphy, this plaquette also names four telegraph operators who were considered to be 'wireless heroes' for using the new technology to save lives, sometimes at the expense of their own. Jack Binns (1884-1959) made the first distress call at sea on 23 January 1909 when his ship, the RMS Republic (here incorrectly listed as the SS Republic) was struck by another ship, the SS Florida. George Eccles (1873-1909) was the first telegrapher to die at sea, going down with the SS Ohio on 16 August, 1909 (here incorrectly dated to 1908) while sending distress calls. The next two names are more well-known; Harold Bride (1890-1956) and Jack Phillips (1887-1912) (here misspelled as Philips) were the wireless operators on the RMS Titanic (again incorrectly listed here as the SS Titanic), and after the sinking both men became famous for staying at their posts sending CQD and SOS distress signals until the last possible moment. This crucial use of wireless telegraphy to make and receive distress calls at sea is clearly alluded to in the figure of the young woman with one hand to her mouth and the other to her ear.
An example in silver was sold in these [Baldwin's of St. James's Auctions] rooms 18 November 2020 (lot 410).
(100-150 GBP)