Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
Collector's Choice December 2021 Auction 30 Nov - 3 Dec 2021
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INDIA. Great Britain - India - Scotland. John Borthwick Gilchrist Bronze Medal, 1841. GEM UNCIRCULATED.
Pudd-841.1 (RRR). By C. Voigt (in Munich) & J. Pinches (in London). Diameter: 57mm; Weight: 104.01 gms. Commemorating the life of the surgeon and linguist. Obverse: - JOHN BORTHWICK GILCHRIST - / BORN 1759 - DIED 1841, bust facing slightly right; Reverse: Angel seated facing, head lowered to left, holding educational materials and instructing three children; FIAT LVX (let there be light) in exergue. Edge: Plain. Glossy chocolate brown surfaces. EXTREMELY RARE according to Puddester, with "25 or less specimens known."
Pudd-841.1 (RRR). By C. Voigt (in Munich) & J. Pinches (in London). Diameter: 57mm; Weight: 104.01 gms. Commemorating the life of the surgeon and linguist. Obverse: - JOHN BORTHWICK GILCHRIST - / BORN 1759 - DIED 1841, bust facing slightly right; Reverse: Angel seated facing, head lowered to left, holding educational materials and instructing three children; FIAT LVX (let there be light) in exergue. Edge: Plain. Glossy chocolate brown surfaces. EXTREMELY RARE according to Puddester, with "25 or less specimens known."
A Scottish-born surgeon and linguist, John Borthwick Gilchrist became an important Indologist following his early travels to India. While there, he studied numerous local languages while serving as an assistant surgeon with the East India Company in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. He was instrumental in the advancement of western understanding of Urdu, and also was well versed in Sanskrit, Persian, and Hindi. He later returned to London, acting as a professor of Hindustani (Urdu).
Estimate: $100 - $200