BERCKEL, THEODORE VICTOR VAN (Belg.). Medallist and Mintengraver, born at Bois-le-Duc on the 21. April 1739, died there on the 19. September 1808. From an early age, he showed a pronounced taste for trie study of the Fine Arts, and readily learned drawing. Under Marne, Mint-engraver at Cleves, he was trained as a Diesinker, for which particular branch he seemed to have special abilities. On his return to Holland, he settled at Rotterdam, where he married, and continued practising his art. His reputation as an Engraver soon attracted the notice of Duke Charles of Lorraine, who, wishing to raise the standard of medallic art in the Netherlands, called the artist to Brussels in 1776, where for twenty years he rendered signal services both as a Medallist and Coin-engraver. The invasion of the French caused him to remove to Vienna ; there, he for some time filled the post of Assistant-engraver to the Mint ; but in 1803 he returned to his native city. Van Berckel's medals are usually signed T. V. B. or T. V. BERCKEL; most of them are much sought after by collectors. Amongst the most important I may mention : 1768. Commemorative medal of the 25th Anniversary of Messire Van Osy's marriage; — 1770. Building of the Lutheran Temple at Amsterdam ; — Centenary of Amsterdam Town Hall; — 1772. Burning of the Amsterdam Theatre ; — Bicentenary of the Deliverance of Vliessingen (2 var.) ; — Birth of the Prince of Orange (William I. of the Netherlands) (3 var.); — William V., Prince of Orange (.on the same event) ; — Expulsion of the Spaniards from Friesland ; — Deliverance of Brielle and Vliessingen ; — 1773 . William V., Prince of Orange, visits Leeuwarden ; — Clement XIV., Suppression of the Jesuits; — Bicentenary of the Deliverance of Alkmaar; — 1774- Birth of William George Frederick, Prince of Orange; — Bicentenary of the Deliverance of Leyden ; — Death of Elandus van Steveren, Pastor at the Hague; — 177 5. Bicentenary of the Erection of Leyden University ; — Solemn Entry of Baron Christian de Bartenstein in Brussels ; — Jubilee of St. Romwald at Malines; — Erection of a statue to Charles of Lorraine at Brussels; — 1776. Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Duke of Brunswick's government, at Bois-le-Duc; — Effigy of Charles of Lorraine, Military Fund for Widows and Orphans; — 1777. Erection of new Colleges in the Netherlands ; — 1778. Charles of Lorraine, Public Squares at Brussels ; — Do, Prize Medal for Drawing ; — 1779- Charles of Lorraine, Epidemic Diseases ; — Maria Theresia, Peace of Teschen ; — Maria Theresia, Building of the Brussels Palais de Justice; — 1780. Death of Prince Charles of Lorraine ; — Maria Christina of Austria and Albert of Saxe-Teschen ; — 1781. Maria Christina and Albert; — Joseph II. visits the Netherlands ; — Inauguration of Joseph II. as Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders ; — 1782. Maria Christina and Albert, Re-establishment of Markets in the Netherlands; — Paul Petrowicz and Maria Federowna at Brussels ; — 1783. Aggrandizement of Ostend Harbour ; — 1784. New Burial Grounds outside the city; — 1785. Maria Christina and Albert, Prize Medal for Pisciculture; — Another, for Fishing, of Bois-le-Duc; — 1787. Maria Christina and Albert naturalized in Brabant ; — Erection of a general Seminary ; — Revolution of 1787, issued by the Utrecht Patriots : Ob cives servatos (unsigned) ; — Re-establishment of the constitution of Brabant ; — 1788. Maria Christina and Albert, Institution of Public Teaching ; — 1790. Maria Christina and Albert, Re-establishment of the Dominical Rest; — Leopold II., Duke of Limburg ; — 1791. Medal in honour of Maria Christina ; — Return of Maria Christina and Albert; — Inauguration of Leopold II., as Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders (3 var.) ; — 1792. Inauguration of Francis II., Count of Namur; — Coronation of Francis II.; — 1794. Francis II. enters the Netherlands. Undated medals : (1779) School of Midwifery at Ghent (with bust of Maria Theresia) ; — Prize Medal for Grammar, Poetry, Eloquence ; — Coins of Ypres and Furnes; — Jetton of the Academy of Literature of Brussels; — (1781) Joseph II. Count of Flanders (2 var.) ; — Count Stahremberg ; — Recovery of Louis XVI., 1774; — Dr Jérôme David Gaubius (1705-1780) of Leyden ; — The Plague at Leyden, 1774 ; — Second Centenary of the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts, &c. The coins issued at the Brussels Mint during Van Berckel's term of office are mostly due to him and display fine work. “La plus belle piéce de l'oeuvre de Van Berckel est sans contredit la médaille des concours á l'effigie du prince Charles de Lorraine, ce protecteur éclairé des sciences et des arts. Le portrait y est traite avec un go?t extr?me, les traits sont ressemblants et naturels, l'expression de la physionomie est vraie et la chevelure d'une legerete admirable" (Edm. de Busscher, Biogr. Nat. de Belgique). Van Berckel's father, and his son, are said to have been Engravers. On the death of James Roettier, both Van Berckel and Van Baerle (the latter was engraver of coins at the Mint of Dordrecht), applied for the post of chief engraver at the Brussels Mint. Bibliography. — Messager des sciences et des arts de Gand, 1830. — Nagler, Monogr. — C. Clauss, Algemeines Künstler-Lexicon, III, p. 583. — Biographie Nationale de Belgique.
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
BARYE, ANTOINE LOUIS
BARYE, ANTOINE LOUIS (French). Sculptor, Painter and Medallist. Born 24. Sept. 1795 ; died 27. June 1875. Pupil of Bosio and Gros, he first worked under Fourier. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1818, and in 1820 obtained the second prize at the Concours de Rome for his Cain cursed by God; the previous year, a medal representing Milo of Croton torn by lions had won him the third prize. He went to Rome, then entered the workshop of the goldsmith Fauconnier, where he was employed to model st...
[ More about BARYE, ANTOINE LOUIS ]
BARYE, ANTOINE LOUIS (French). Sculptor, Painter and Medallist. Born 24. Sept. 1795 ; died 27. June 1875. Pupil of Bosio and Gros, he first worked under Fourier. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1818, and in 1820 obtained the second prize at the Concours de Rome for his Cain cursed by God; the previous year, a medal representing Milo of Croton torn by lions had won him the third prize. He went to Rome, then entered the workshop of the goldsmith Fauconnier, where he was employed to model st...
[ More about BARYE, ANTOINE LOUIS ]
BASSI, GIAN MARIA
BASSI, GIAN MARIA (Ital.). Sculptor and Medallist at Bologna, during the latter end of the seventeenth century. He is supposed to have executed some medals ; that of the Bolognese Scholar Paolo Masini, whose Bologna illustrata appeared in 1666, is generally attributed to him ; it bears a portrait, and the signature G.M.B.F. Better known are his terra-cotta groups of the Holy Family in the archiepiscopal palace of Bologna, and his statues at the Church degli Angeli in the same city. Bassi engrave...
[ More about BASSI, GIAN MARIA ]
BASSI, GIAN MARIA (Ital.). Sculptor and Medallist at Bologna, during the latter end of the seventeenth century. He is supposed to have executed some medals ; that of the Bolognese Scholar Paolo Masini, whose Bologna illustrata appeared in 1666, is generally attributed to him ; it bears a portrait, and the signature G.M.B.F. Better known are his terra-cotta groups of the Holy Family in the archiepiscopal palace of Bologna, and his statues at the Church degli Angeli in the same city. Bassi engrave...
[ More about BASSI, GIAN MARIA ]
BAUER, HANS
BAUER, HANS (Germ.). Goldsmith, and Mint-master, at Brunswick, previous to the 1st of May 1572, when he entered the joint services of Landgrave William IV. of Cassel, Lewis III. of Marburg, and George I. of Darmstadt. His signature was HB in monogram, sometimes accompanied by a trefoil. He seems to have been in the Hessian service until 1610. His predecessor was Hans Perndorffer, 1564-1575. Bibliography. — P. Weinmeister, Hessische Münzmeister am Ende des 16 Jahr hunderts, Numismatischer Anzeig...
[ More about BAUER, HANS ]
BAUER, HANS (Germ.). Goldsmith, and Mint-master, at Brunswick, previous to the 1st of May 1572, when he entered the joint services of Landgrave William IV. of Cassel, Lewis III. of Marburg, and George I. of Darmstadt. His signature was HB in monogram, sometimes accompanied by a trefoil. He seems to have been in the Hessian service until 1610. His predecessor was Hans Perndorffer, 1564-1575. Bibliography. — P. Weinmeister, Hessische Münzmeister am Ende des 16 Jahr hunderts, Numismatischer Anzeig...
[ More about BAUER, HANS ]
BAUERT, JOHANN EPHRAIM
BAUERT, JOHANN EPHRAIM (Swed.). Medallist in the service of Frederick V. of Denmark. He was born at Stockholm between 1720 and 1730, and died at Copenhagen in 1799. It is supposed that he worked under Hedlinger, and perhaps also under Daniel Fehrmann. In 1763 he obtained the post of Engraver at the Copenhagen Mint, an office which he held until his death. During that period, a large number of the dies for the Danish coinage were cut by him. Amongst his medals the best known are : one with bust o...
[ More about BAUERT, JOHANN EPHRAIM ]
BAUERT, JOHANN EPHRAIM (Swed.). Medallist in the service of Frederick V. of Denmark. He was born at Stockholm between 1720 and 1730, and died at Copenhagen in 1799. It is supposed that he worked under Hedlinger, and perhaps also under Daniel Fehrmann. In 1763 he obtained the post of Engraver at the Copenhagen Mint, an office which he held until his death. During that period, a large number of the dies for the Danish coinage were cut by him. Amongst his medals the best known are : one with bust o...
[ More about BAUERT, JOHANN EPHRAIM ]