Description
GREAT BRITAIN 1815 Charge of the British at Waterloo, 41mm copper medal 40.92 grams from 1820 by G. Mills & A.J. Depaulis for the Mudie National Series, (Mudie 34, BHM 859, Eimer 1069)
Obverse: bust facing right, HENRY WILLIAM MARQUIS OF ANGLESEY
Reverse: equestrian figure of Anglesey left, leading a cavalry charge, CHARGE OF THE BRITISH AT WATERLOO / JUNE XVIII MDCCCXV 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.
Alexis Joseph Depaulis (1792 – 1867) was a French sculptor and medallist, born in Paris, and studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts under Bertrand Andrieu for medal making and Pierre Cartellier for sculpture. He frequently exhibited works at the school's salon from 1815 to 1855. A collection of his casts, medals and seals are preserved at the school, as well as in the Louvre. Depaulis was appointed a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor in 1834.
