St. James's Auctions
Auction 74 12-13 Apr 2023
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Lifesaving: George IV, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck [now the Royal National Lifeboat Institution], proof or trial striking, in copper, of the medal awarded in gold and silver, 1824, by William Wyon, bare head of the King l., GEORGE THE FOURTH PATRON, rev. three seamen haul a survivor onto a small boat, LET NOT THE DEEP SWALLOW ME UP, plain edge, 35mm., (BHM.1246; Eimer 1174; MYB.L4; M. Jones, The Art of the Medal, 1979, 283a & b, illus.; Carlisle p.181), extremely fine
Carlisle: 'This small medal appears to me altogether a Chef d'Oeuvre. The Bust of George the Fourth is the best of all the good Heads of the Sovereign'. The medal's reverse is from a design by Henry Howard RA (1769–1847), a painter of portraits and historical scenes; whilst William Wyon depicts himself as the man to the front of the three pulling the survivor from the water. Carlisle again: 'But there is another pleasing motive for our admiration of this beautiful Medal, as the figure who is so humanely extending his relief to the drowning Mariner, is a Portrait of the Artist himself'.
Estimate: 150 - 200 GBP
Carlisle: 'This small medal appears to me altogether a Chef d'Oeuvre. The Bust of George the Fourth is the best of all the good Heads of the Sovereign'. The medal's reverse is from a design by Henry Howard RA (1769–1847), a painter of portraits and historical scenes; whilst William Wyon depicts himself as the man to the front of the three pulling the survivor from the water. Carlisle again: 'But there is another pleasing motive for our admiration of this beautiful Medal, as the figure who is so humanely extending his relief to the drowning Mariner, is a Portrait of the Artist himself'.
Estimate: 150 - 200 GBP