Pistrucci Waterloo medal
farthing
Posts: 3,294 ✭✭✭
R.I.P. Wayne, Brad
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
0
Comments
09/07/2006
In fact, he took so long, only one of the intended recipients was still alive when he completed the dies, The Duke of Wellington.
Not 100% sure, but these are a fairly recent copy (sometime in the 1960's) , Vern would know. but extremely awesome.
Pity the seller only ships to the Americas.
The link gives a bit of information on the medal. I've seen the full-sized electrotype; an incredible huge thing that I doubt could be accurately struck even with today's technology.
You want how much?!!
NapoleonicMedals.org
(Last update 3/6/2007)
Your medal is one great looking piece. Thanks for sharing it with us. I really appreciate your website for a fledging Napoleonic collector.
BTW there's another on the Bay that I ran across during one of my usual searches.
You want how much?!!
NapoleonicMedals.org
(Last update 3/6/2007)
I learned something today, i did not know that he'd gone to all that trouble to keep his job there. But on the face of it you can see perhaps why the Mint Master's were finding him hard to put up with.
Pistrucci was greatly talented, unfortunately he was very egotistical and he refused to copy the work of another artist. I think half of the trouble had arisen with a bust (a stone/marble one rather than one on a coin) of George IV as done by Sir Francis Chantrey. I think it had been decided to produce an obverse based upon that bust, but Pistrucci had bitterly complained that he would not copy another artists work and thus he came up with his own design. (Not a good move).
Considering Pistrucci had been the one responsible for the obverse bust of George III with the big bulging eyes, it's not hard to see why they didn't want Pistrucci doing his own thing. Now George III hadn't complained because his porphyria had driven him into his final madness several years before Pistrucci's designs had arrived on the scene.
George IV however was not going to be so impressed. When the new coinage came out depicting George IV as designed by Pistrucci in 1820/1 the king was definately not impressed and showed his displeasure and it appears no one listened to him because Pistrucci's designs continued until 1825.
However by 1825 the king was probasbly doing his nut and really ramming the point home about how much he didn't like the obverse at all, that they though they'd better do something about it. Thus Wyon was brought in to do the copy of the bust as sculptured by Chantrey and the new design arrived in 1825/6. No doubt Pistrucci was deeply disappointed by this turn of events and probably feared for his job even more after 1826, because not only did his obverse go but all of his reverses were swept under the carpet too as they were replaced by John Baptise Merlin's designs. And George IV was also a little happier.
Although ultimately between Wyon/Merlen and Pistrucci it's interesting to see who had the last laugh. Because in 1871 a design originally by Pistrucci, namely St George and the Dragon made a come back with a vengence and Merlin's shield reverses ceased in 1887 (20/-) and 1892 (10/-) respectively.
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
<< <i>My favorite Pistrucci
The author of the milled section of the Coincraft catalogue would not agree with you!
I have to partially agree with him in some respects especially with the reverse it is a little cluttered and bottom heavy.
The obverse i kinda like though. I don't find Pistrucci's obverse too problematic with regards to George IV. Although i'm not too keen on all of his George III busts, the bull head type especially so. Not nice, even the bulging eyes are better than that. But i like the one he did for the crown.
There's one thing to be said for it though, Pistrucci's obverse of George IV is probably more realistic than Wyon's.
From an artist's point of view, a very good move in my opinion.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
<< <i>I think it had been decided to produce an obverse based upon that bust, but Pistrucci had bitterly complained that he would not copy another artists work and thus he came up with his own design. (Not a good move).
From an artist's point of view, a very good move in my opinion. >>
Yes and No.
Yes it was a good thing for him to do because it shows how skilled he was and how talented he was, and i admire his principles.
Bad move because it bascially lost him his job. He was technically the chief engraver until Wyon's appointment in 1828. As Pistrucci was an Italian (and considered a jumped up foreigner at that) he would never get far by being egotistical. If he had gone along with it and rowed in the same direction he may well have persuaded them to give him the job properly. Of course as time goes on he could have then just slowly pushed the boundaries further and further and by the end he probably could have done what he'd wanted. He could have played it for the long haul rather than shooting himself in the foot before the off.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
<< <i>Well, from my very limited readings about him, I can recall that he was a drama queen and a difficult person to deal with, so he would have probably ended up loosing the job one way or another. But straight copying anything or anybody in arts/architecture, is and should always be totally unacceptable. If you hire somebody to do an artistic job, you have to let go and trust him.
No i agree, but i was thinking more on a keep your job principle... and keep you salary principle. Although somehow where everyone else would have failed Pistrucci actually managed to succeed at keeping a slightly lower job and a salary... even if it did take him 30 years to finish that medal! J E Boehm would have never have got away with that.
Although i think you're probably right if anyone could get himself fired it was Benedetto.
With regards to the architecture you forget the Victorians were all about copying and imitating. Look at all those splending Neo-Classical and Mock-Gothic buildings then left Britain with. The Houses of Parliament springs straight to mind.
Wyon's portrait copied from that bust.
(I'm referring to Chantrey's bust)