Lot 1201
1201
The Battle of Waterloo, by Benedetto Pistrucci, conjoined, laureate and draped busts of the four allied sovereigns, the Prince Regent, Francis II of Austria, Alexander of Russia and Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, surrounded by allegorical and mythological allusions to the Second Treaty of Paris. rev. equestrian figures of Wellington and Blcher, as Roman generals, led to the battle by Victory, around them struggle the giants struck down by Jupiter, signed PISTRUCCI below, 139mm. (BHM.870; E.1067; H.207), the two thin silvered shells joined by a thick rim, the obverse cracked to the right of the portraits and discoloured with verdigris, the detail sharp, the silver toned, a very rare original example of this famous medal
The Battle of Waterloo, by Benedetto Pistrucci, conjoined, laureate and draped busts of the four allied sovereigns, the Prince Regent, Francis II of Austria, Alexander of Russia and Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, surrounded by allegorical and mythological allusions to the Second Treaty of Paris. rev. equestrian figures of Wellington and Blcher, as Roman generals, led to the battle by Victory, around them struggle the giants struck down by Jupiter, signed PISTRUCCI below, 139mm. (BHM.870; E.1067; H.207), the two thin silvered shells joined by a thick rim, the obverse cracked to the right of the portraits and discoloured with verdigris, the detail sharp, the silver toned, a very rare original example of this famous medal

Details
The Battle of Waterloo, by Benedetto Pistrucci, conjoined, laureate and draped busts of the four allied sovereigns, the Prince Regent, Francis II of Austria, Alexander of Russia and Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, surrounded by allegorical and mythological allusions to the Second Treaty of Paris. rev. equestrian figures of Wellington and Blcher, as Roman generals, led to the battle by Victory, around them struggle the giants struck down by Jupiter, signed PISTRUCCI below, 139mm. (BHM.870; E.1067; H.207), the two thin silvered shells joined by a thick rim, the obverse cracked to the right of the portraits and discoloured with verdigris, the detail sharp, the silver toned, a very rare original example of this famous medal

Lot Essay

Commissioned in 1819, the dies for this medal were not ready until 1849. Even then, despite Pistrucci's advice, the dies were not hardened, and so it was impossible to use them to strike such a large medal. In the event only gutta-percha impressions and electrotypes were made.
See also back cover illustration