MILTON, JOHN (Brit.). Medallist and Gem-engraver of the second half of the eighteenth century, who worked from about 1760 to 1802, and died on 10. February 1805. From 1789 to 1798 he was an assistant Engraver at the Royal Mint, and was also Medallist to the Prince of Wales (George IV.). He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, 24. May 1792, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1785 to 1802. His coins and medals were sold by Leigh and Sotheby, 30. May 1805 (cfr. Sale Catalogue). “ At the close of the eighteenth century", says Mr. Wroth, “ Milton executed dies of provincial tokens, all of which are creditable works of their kind. " His usual signature is J. MILTON. One of his pupils was George Valentin Bauert, of Altona; a Portraitmedal of Robert Walpole was executed by the two in conjunction. The following are Milton's best known productions : — Coins. Anglesey, Penny, undated (Pye, PI. I, 1, with Druid's head); — Barbadoes, Penny, and Halfpenny, 1788 (some varieties signed: J. MILTON F. ; or M. ; others unsigned), and 1792; — Cambridge, Penny, undated ; — Hackney, Halfpenny, 1795 (with View of Hackney Church) and Penny, 1796 (signed: J. Milton F. on obv. and I M on R.; this piece was not intended for a token, but for a medal) [The issuer of these Hackney tokens, D. A. Rebello, was a coin collector]; —Hereford, Penny, 1796 (2 var., Pye, PI. 22, 9 and 10); — Ipswich, Conder's Penny Tokens, 1795 and 1796 (3 var., all three with head of Cardinal Wolsey), 1797 (View of Ipswich Town-Hall on obv., by Jacobs); — Isle of Man, Penny and Halfpenny, 1786; — London, Penny, 1803 (issued by Robert Orchard, and signed MILTON F.); and Farthing, 1804; — Richardson's Halfpenny, 1795 ; — Young's Penny and Halfpenny, 1798; — Unfinished Token, with inscription on ex. of R. : MILTON MEDALLIST | SEALS COINS &c. I 1799 (known as Milton's Token) ; — Richardson's Lottery Tokens, London; — Swanage, Twopence, 1785; — Scottish Pattern coins with head of Prince George, executed for Colonel Fullerton, 1799, and comprizing: Two Shillings and Sixpence (Al, AR, ? and white metal, signed: Milton), One Shilling and Sixpence (4 var., Al, AR, ? and white metal, signed : Milton F. or M.), Shilling (Al, AR, ? and white metal), Sixpence (Al, AR, ? and white metal, signed M under the bust) [Sharp says : " The dies for this rare token were made for Colonel Fullerton (Vide Vol, II, p. 170) afterwards Governor of Trinidad, under the direction of Mr. Young; the object not being mentioned at the time by Colonel Fullerton, but it afterwards appeared the coins were intended for circulation as shilling tokens in Scotland, the sanction of the Prince of Wales having been previously obtained. The late Sir Joseph Banks happening to see the dies, whilst in the possession of Milton, was so struck by the resemblance of the design to the national silver coin, and the illegality of the Royal Arms being thus assumed by the Prince upon a piece intended to be current, that he cautioned the artist against further proceeding, since he might be liable to a charge little short of High Treason. In consequence, the project was abandoned, only a few proofs being struck, and those in copper, " and Sir George Chetwynd, quoting this, states : " for the same purpose dies were prepared for the striking of shillings smaller than those for the halfpenny, which they resemble in every other respect, except the legend of the reverses. A few pieces were struck in silver for presents. Dies were also prepared for Halfcrowns and Sixpences exactly like the Halfpenny, size only excepted. It does not appear that any impressions, except a very few in soft metal, were taken off at the time; but afterwards there were some struck in silver from the dies which were in Mr. Young's possession. " The specimens in gold, and many of those in other metals which are in the market, are restrikes] ; — Wroxham (Norfolk), Threepence, 1797, etc. There is also a Pattern Guinea of George III., dated 1798. Medals. Prize Medal of Winchester College, with bust of William of Wykeham; — Sir Edmund Godfrey, 1678 (a copy of Bower's medal;; — Matthew Prior, † 18. September 1721 (one of the earliest of Milton's works) ; — Robert Walpole, Earl of Oxford, 1744 (signed : I. M. F. MINT on R. ; obv. by Georg Valentin Bauert, pupil of Milton); — Prize Medal of the London Medical Lyceum (with busts of John Hunter and George Fordyce), 1785; — Prize Medal of the Glasgow University; — George III., Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's, for the Victory off Camperdown, 19. December 1797 (illustrated) ; — Commemorative medal of the Battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1777 (Reward of Merit,; a rare medal reproduced in Betts, American Medals) ; — Death of the Duke of Bedford, 1802; — Successes of 1814, with bust of Blücher (signed: M.) ; — The Colgate Medal, 1795; — Thomas Howard, third Earl of Effingham, 1791 (2 var.) ; — Thomas Erskine and Vicary Gibbs (Trial of Hardy, Tooke, and Thelwall), 1794; — George III., Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's for the Victory of 1. June 1794 (signed: MILTON); — Masonic medal for Membership (Marvin, P. 197); — Welsh Medal ; — Insanity of George III., 1789 (3 var.); Anthony Morris Storer, 1799; — City Badge of London; — Gaming Tickets for Half-a-Crown, One Shilling, and Sixpence; — Presentation Medal of the Royal Society of London to Benjamin A. Rumford; — Medalet with bust of King and Royal arms (erroneously believed to have been intended for a Pattern Half Crown); — Royal Military Club instituted at Jamaica, by William, Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV.), 1788 ; — Another, similar, with legend showing it to have been struck as a Ticket for the Strand Theatre of Varieties, etc. On some of the medals the signature of the artist is : I. M. F. TOWER ; or IMF. MINT. Gems & Seals, &c. Eagle tearing a serpent, yellow carnelian ; —Horse galloping, the background blazoned ; — Seal of the United States of America (engraved in London ; St. George fighting the Dragon ; legend : LET MERCY BE OVR BOAST, AND SHAME OVR ONLY FEAR ; signature : I. MILTON F.) ; — Comedy holding a shield bearing the inscription : MILTON ENGRAVER, N° 6 QUEEN STRT. GOLDEN SQ, ; — Hetman Platoff, undated ; R. ACRI MILITIA | VEXAVIT GALLOS | EQVES METUENDUS | HASTA. Bibliography. — W. Wroth, John Milton, Dict. Nat. Biog. XXXVIII, 41. — Hawkins &c.,Medallic Illustrations &c. — Pye, Provincial Copper Coins . — Redgrave, Dictionary of Artists. — James Conder, Arrangement of Provincial Coins, Tokens, and Medalets.— J. Atkins, Tradesmen's Tokens of the eighteenth century. — Sharp, Chetwynd Collection. — Crowther, English Pattern Coins. — Spink, Catalogue of the Montagu Collection from George I. to Victoria. — Cochran-Patrick, Catalogue of Scottish Medals, p. 110, pl. XXI, 3 ; cp. p. 115 , n° 46 ; p. 151. — Betts, Historical Medals of America. — Tancred, War Medal Record, &c. — Numismatic Chronicle, 1887-1892. — Schlickeysen-Pallmann, op. cit.
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
MERCANDETTI, TOMMASO
MERCANDETTI, TOMMASO (Ital.). Medallist, and Engraver of coins, gems and seals, born at Rome, 2. December 1758, died there 11. May 1821. His father, Pietro Mercandetti, who filled the post of Engraver at the Papal Mint, died at an early age, in 1767, leaving his family in poor circumstances, so that the young Tommaso, who had been placed in the seminary of Albano, had to be withdrawn from his studies and put to apprenticeship, when only nine years' old, with the gem-engraver, Girolamo Rossi. Aft...
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MERCANDETTI, TOMMASO (Ital.). Medallist, and Engraver of coins, gems and seals, born at Rome, 2. December 1758, died there 11. May 1821. His father, Pietro Mercandetti, who filled the post of Engraver at the Papal Mint, died at an early age, in 1767, leaving his family in poor circumstances, so that the young Tommaso, who had been placed in the seminary of Albano, had to be withdrawn from his studies and put to apprenticeship, when only nine years' old, with the gem-engraver, Girolamo Rossi. Aft...
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MERCATOR, MICHAEL
MERCATOR, MICHAEL (Dutch). Mercator, says Dr Cahn (German Renaissance Medals in the British Museum, London, 1904, pp. 12-13) (translation of the German name " Kauffmann") came from Venlo (Duchy of Gueldres), and was in the service of Floris von Egmont, count of Buren, for whom he acted as a diplomat and worked as an artist ". In consequence of the relations between the Count and King Henry VIII. he was, on various occasions, sent to England as an ambassador. A letter from his prince to the king...
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MERCATOR, MICHAEL (Dutch). Mercator, says Dr Cahn (German Renaissance Medals in the British Museum, London, 1904, pp. 12-13) (translation of the German name " Kauffmann") came from Venlo (Duchy of Gueldres), and was in the service of Floris von Egmont, count of Buren, for whom he acted as a diplomat and worked as an artist ". In consequence of the relations between the Count and King Henry VIII. he was, on various occasions, sent to England as an ambassador. A letter from his prince to the king...
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MERCIÉ, ANTONIN
MERCIÉ, ANTONIN (French). Sculptor and Painter, born at Toulouse in 1845 ; pupil of Jouffroy and Falgui?re; first grand Prix de Rome in 1868; O* in 1879. By him are various Portrait-medallions : 1868. Mlle C***; — The wolf, the mother and the child, bronze plaque; — 1877. The Genius of Arts; — 1882. Medal of the Ligue des Patriotes (engraved by Henri Dubois); — 1883. Melles Gabrielle et William, etc. His works in Sculpture and Painting are numerous and some have attained great fame. Bibliography...
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MERCIÉ, ANTONIN (French). Sculptor and Painter, born at Toulouse in 1845 ; pupil of Jouffroy and Falgui?re; first grand Prix de Rome in 1868; O* in 1879. By him are various Portrait-medallions : 1868. Mlle C***; — The wolf, the mother and the child, bronze plaque; — 1877. The Genius of Arts; — 1882. Medal of the Ligue des Patriotes (engraved by Henri Dubois); — 1883. Melles Gabrielle et William, etc. His works in Sculpture and Painting are numerous and some have attained great fame. Bibliography...
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MERCIÉ, CLAUDE ANTOINE
MERCIÉ, CLAUDE ANTOINE (French.). Engraver, born at Gray, 28. December 1751, died at Lyons, 10. April 1812. He was one of the founders of the " Société des artistes réunis" of Lyons, which undertook in 1791 and 1792 the coinage of pure bell-metal, for which he cut the dies. His signature: MERCIE.F.LUG. occurs on a medal of Bonaparte, obv. BONAPARTE RÉÉDIFICATEUR DE LYON; R. Inscription within oak-wreath, 1800 (illustrated). He engraved other medals and jetons, but was really a manufacturer of b...
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MERCIÉ, CLAUDE ANTOINE (French.). Engraver, born at Gray, 28. December 1751, died at Lyons, 10. April 1812. He was one of the founders of the " Société des artistes réunis" of Lyons, which undertook in 1791 and 1792 the coinage of pure bell-metal, for which he cut the dies. His signature: MERCIE.F.LUG. occurs on a medal of Bonaparte, obv. BONAPARTE RÉÉDIFICATEUR DE LYON; R. Inscription within oak-wreath, 1800 (illustrated). He engraved other medals and jetons, but was really a manufacturer of b...
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