Prize Medal for Cotton from the Crystal Palace Exhibition, London, (awarded to Dr. Samuel Bond), 1851

  • Creator: Leonard Charles Wyon
  • Title: Prize Medal for Cotton from the Crystal Palace Exhibition, London, (awarded to Dr. Samuel Bond), 1851
  • Date: 1851
  • Description: This round bronze medal features a double portrait of Queen Victoria and Price Albert shown in profile. Stamped letters around the edge of the medal include the year in Roman numerals (MDCCCLI) at bottom center and "Royal Mint" to the immediate right. The name S. Bond is engraved on the edge.
  • Historical Note: This is the front side of the exposition medal created by artist Leonard C. Wyon (1826-1891) for the 1851 "Crystal Palace" exposition in London. It was awarded to Dr. Samuel Bond, a Memphis cotton producer, who, along with nine other Americans, including fellow Memphian John Pope, won prize medals in the category of "Vegetable and Animal Substances Chiefly Used in Manufactures" at the 1851 world's industrial fair held at the Crystal Palace in London. A commentary in the official catalogue of the exposition noted that all of the cotton on display came from countries other than Great Britain, and that the English writer hoped that soon "encouragement given to the growth of cotton in our Indian and colonial possessions shall enable us to dispense with the slave-grown cotton of America." Reference: The Illustrated Exhibitor, A Tribute to the World's Industrial Jubilee (London: John Cassell, 1851), p. 485.
  • Institution: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN; A Gift to the Citizens of Memphis and Shelby County from the Bond Family
  • Rights: Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
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