Triumph and Disaster: Engraver William Wyon’s Final Years

Lecture by Sir Mark Jones

BOOKING REQUIRED

The Goldsmiths’ Centre, London EC1M 5AD

10 Feb 2025 · 6:00PM – 8:00PM

This event is held at The Goldsmiths’ Centre in collaboration with the British Art Medal Society (BAMS) and is supported by the Goldsmiths’ Centre. BAMS, a registered charity, was founded in 1982 to promote the art of the medal through commissions, exhibitions, publications and events.

IMPORTANT

Bams members wishing to attend the lecture must contact Janet Larkin directly to book a free ticket for the limited spaces by emailing

[email protected]

There are limited spaces available. The security arrangements at The Goldsmiths’ Centre will only admit attendees if their name is on their list. Members of the public can also attend but only by purchasing a ticket in advance through the Goldsmiths Centre website

More people have seen William Wyon’s work than that of any other British artist. A brilliant modeller in low relief, his coins, for Britain and its empire, were handled by hundreds of millions around the world. Join art historian, numismatist and museum director Sir Mark Jones in a talk exploring the extraordinary career of this prolific artist and engraver.

Wyon’s iconic, crowned image of Victoria as a young Queen outdid even the coins. Reproduced on the earliest postage stamps, the ‘penny black’ and its successors, from 1840 until the Queen’s death sixty years later in 1901, they were printed in billions and circulated around the globe. Wyon’s medals, considerable works of art, and beautiful and intriguing in themselves, hold a fascinating mirror to an era of imperial assertion, culminating in the First Opium War and the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Sir Mark Jones was a founder member of the British Art Medal Society (BAMS) in 1982. He is a former Curator and Keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum and has held many influential positions since, as Director of the National Museums of Scotland; Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and Master of St. Cross College, Oxford. Most recently Sir Mark was called out of retirement to become Interim Director of The British Museum. He is a renowned expert on medallic history and has published extensively on the subject.  His book, The Art of the Medal, remains one of the best introductions to the artform. Mark is currently Chair of the National Trust for Scotland and proprietor of Golden Hare Books in Edinburgh. His life of William Wyon, with a complete catalogue of his work, is due out in the new year.