Description
GREAT BRITAIN 1797 Battle of Camperdown, 41mm gilt copper medal 36.6 grams, from 1820 by W. Wyon and T. Webb for the Mudie National Series, (Mudie 5, BHM 432, Eimer 886)
Obverse: bust facing left, ADM. VISC. DUNCAN
Reverse: Duncan receives Admiral de Winter's sword in surrender, DUTCH FLEET DEFEATED 9 SHIPS OF THE LINE CAPTURED 11 OCTR. 1797
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.
William Wyon RA (1795 – 1851) was born in Birmingham and, in 1809, was apprenticed to his father, Peter Wyon who was an engraver and die sinker. In 1816, he went to London. He studied the works of John Flaxman, attended the schools of the Royal Academy, and gained a gold medal from the Society of Arts for a copy of the head of Ceres, and a second for an original group. In 1816 he was appointed assistant engraver to the mint, and in 1828 chief engraver. In 1831 he was elected associate and in 1838 full member of the Royal Academy. Wyon is buried under a simple rectangular York stone slab at West Norwood Cemetery. He was the father of engraver Leonard Charles Wyon.
Thomas Webb (1797 - 1822) was an English coin and medal engraver. He is associated with the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. Webb worked for the noted metal producer, Sir Edward Thomason who struck the Mudie series.
