The oval tortoiseshell box
centering a Queen Anne Peace of Utrecht Silver Medal by John Croker, 1713,
cast with a bust in embroidered gown,
and inscribed ANNA.D.G.MAG.BRI.FR.ET.HIB.REG.,
the reverse with Anne as Britannia, standing, holding an olive branch, shield and spear,
beyond to the left, ships, and to the right, a farming scene,
inscribed COMPOSITIS.VENERANTVR.ARMIS and MDCCXIII,
the box within silver rims and having a stand-away hinge to the backside
John Croker (21 October 1670 – 21 March 1741),
born in Saxony and known in his youth as Johann Crocker, was a master jeweler who migrated to London,
where he became a medalist and engraved dies for English and later British coins and medals.
For most of his adult life Croker worked in England,
serving provincial mints as well as that at the Tower of London.
For some seven years he engraved the die stamps for the coins of King William III and Queen Anne
before becoming Chief Engraver to the Royal Mint, a position he held from 1705 until his death.
He worked closely with the head of the Mint, the famous scientist Isaac Newton.
Almost all of the dies for the coins of Queen Anne and King George I were engraved by Croker,
and, until 1740, many for those of George II.
He was also the creator of a large number of medals, including Peace of Utrecht.
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents
in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715.
The very expensive and bloody war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of Spain,
involving much of Europe for over a decade.
The treaties were concluded between the representatives of Louis XIV of France
and of his grandson Philip on one hand,
and representatives of Queen Anne of Great Britain, King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia,
King John V of Portugal, and the United Provinces of the Netherlands on the other.
This Treaty ushered in the stable and characteristic period of Eighteenth-Century civilization,
and marked the end of danger to Europe from the old French monarchy.
It further marked a change of no less significance to the world at large,
and the maritime, commercial and financial supremacy of Great Britain.
Note :
Seven related tortoiseshell boxes
inset with John Croker's 1713 medal commemorating the Treaty of Utrecht
reside in The Royal Collection Trust, acquired by or given to the following :
Queen Mary of the United Kingdom (3)
King George V (2)
King Edward VII (2)
Condition : Good to excellent with minor wear and small scratches throughout;
having no splits or breaks to shell or silver; a few minor dents to the rim;
minor remaining residue of glue to the interior (likely reinforcement of tortoise to silver);
closes well with good hinge
3-1/4" Wide x 2-3/8" Deep x 1/2" High / 1/8 Total oz.
SOLD
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#7990 |