'Leda and the Swan', medal

'Leda and the Swan', medal, Robert Cook, 2000. Museum no. A.9-2001

'Leda and the Swan'
Medal (obverse view)
Robert Cook (born 1921)
Italy (Rome)
2000
Bronze, cast
Museum no. A.9-2001
Gift of the artist

Greek and Roman myths and legends are a frequent source of inspiration in medallic art. Here the handling of the figures reveals the artist's close observation of natural forms and his practice of working from life. He modelled the forms and  textures in wax and then had the medal cast by a foundry.

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'Leda and the Hatpin', medal Linda Crook

'Leda and the Hatpin', medal Linda Crook, 1999. Museum no. A.6-2003

'Leda and the Hatpin'
Medal (obverse view)
Linda Crook (born 1946)
England (London)
1999
Silver, cast
Museum no. A.6-2003
Purchased from the artist
Lent by the artist

Crook takes her inspiration from the classical myths but re-works them to free women from the standard role of 'victim'. In the original story, Jupiter, in the guise of a swan, made love to Leda, but here he is transformed into a fancy hat, which Leda tidies up nicely with a hatpin. The reverse suggests that the hatpin might be a feather plucked from the swan.

'Punks', plaquette

'Punks', plaquette, Danuta Solowiej-Wedderburn, 1987. Museum no. A.10-2001

'Punks'
Plaquette (obverse view)
Danuta Solowiej-Wedderburn (born 1962)
England (London)
1987
Bronze, cast
Museum no. A.10-2001
Gift of the artist

The artist arrived in London from Poland in 1987 when Punk was a huge phenomenon. Her design is an outsider's view of British culture but also a permanent record of a particular moment. Its projecting spikes embody the aggressive nature of Punk style and behaviour.

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'Diamond', medal

'Diamond', medal, Lynn Chadwick, 1984. Museum no. A.30-1984

'Diamond'
Medal (obverse view)
Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003)
Cast by the Pobjoy Mint for the British Art Medal Society
England
1984
Bronze, struck
Museum no. A.30-1984
Purchased from the British Art Medal Society
Lent by Lucy M. Cullen

The medal is thematically related to a large-scale sculpture of the same name showing full-length male and female figures. It was executed at the same time and is Chadwick's only medallic work. His monumental approach to composition is captured even within the small-scale format of the medal.

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Antonio Pisanello - 23rd FIDEM Congress Medal, Ronald Searle

Antonio Pisanello - 23rd FIDEM Congress Medal, Ronald Searle, 1992. Museum no. A.3-1993

Antonio Pisanello - 23rd FIDEM Congress Medal (obverse view)
Ronald Searle (born 1920)
England (London)
1992
Bronze, struck
Museum no. A.3-1993
Commissioned by FIDEM (Fédération Internationale de la Médaille) in silver and bronze
Purchased from the British Art Medal Trust
Lent by Wendy Fisher

The cartoonist Ronald Searle wittily subverts the traditional medal format. Normally there is a portrait on one side and a symbolic image representing the virtue or achievements of the sitter on the reverse. When this medal is turned over, the reverse reveals the back of Pisanello's head.

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'Decorum Est', medal

'Decorum Est', medal, Sara Ewers, 1996. Museum no. A.7:1-1999

'Decorum Est'
Medal
Sara Ewers (born 1974)
England (Loughborough)
1996
Bronze, cast, with gold leaf; hessian bag with silver snippets
Museum no. A.7:1-1999
Given by the artist

The medal, its title and container evoke the subject of war. This side shows human suffering, the true face of war, while the hessian 'sandbag' and 'barbed wire' spikes symbolise trench warfare.

The title is a contraction of 'Dulce et decorum est', which itself is the title of a poem by the First World War poet Wilfred Owen. It comes from the longer Latin phrase meaning 'It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country'. The words printed on metal snippets under the hessian are also by Owen.

'50th Anniversary of the Discovery of DNA', medal

'50th Anniversary of the Discovery of DNA', medal, Peter Musson. Museum no. A.9:1-2003

'50th Anniversary of the Discovery of DNA'
Medal (obverse view)
Peter Musson (born 1977)
England (London)
Silver, cast
Museum no. A.9:1-2003
Purchased from the artist

The medal shows the DNA double helix against a background of concentric lines reminiscent of a fingerprint, another method of establishing identity. It was designed on a computer and the data sent to a computerised rapid-prototyping machine, which cut the master models with fine precision. Only the casting was done in the traditional way.

View of the reverse of this medal