Description
GREAT BRITAIN 1797 Battle of Cape St Vincent, 41mm gilt copper medal 37.22 grams, from 1820 by G. Mills & N.G.A. Brenet for the Mudie National Series, (Mudie 4, BHM 438, Eimer 882)
Obverse: bust facing left, EARL ST VINCENT G.C.B.
Reverse: Victory hovering above two Spanish ships at which she hurls thunderbolts, SPANISH FLEET DEFEATED OFF CAPE ST VINCENT XIV FEBY MDCCLXXXXVII D.
James Mudie's series of forty "National Medals" was produced in 1820 and manufactured by Sir Edward Thomason in Birmingham, England. The medals celebrate British triumphs in the Napoleonic wars over the French spanning a 20 year period, from 1797 to 1817. They serve as a counter to the numerous, officially issued French medals glorifying the battles and events of Napoleon's reign. They are the same size, 41 millimeters as the official Napoleonic medals, and most of the dies were produced in France.
George Mills (c1792 – 1824) was a British sculptor, engraver and medallist.
Mills exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1816-1823 and gained three gold medals from the Royal Society of Arts.
Nicolas-Guy-Antoine Brenet (c1770 - 1846) was a French medallist, and pupil of Girod and Gatteaux. From 1808 onward he was employed producing a large quantity of commemorative medals of French historical events that occurred under the Empire, the Restoration and the July Monarchy, and almost surprisingly by John Mudie for his “National Series”.
