European Medals from 1513 to 1788
Netherlands, The Dutch Republic. Plaquettepenning (Silver, 69mm, 94.39 g 12), on the silver wedding anniversary of Bernard van Vijve and Margareta Schrick, by Cornelis Coutrier, with his silversmith marks on the edge, 1736. Woman, in classical dress, seated left, holding olive branch in her left hand and pouring a libation from right hand over a flaming altar to left; on the altar, stork; above, eye of God in rays. Rev. In a rococo frame, the arms of van Vijve and Schrick above two tablets inscribed; Ter Gedaghtenisse / Van de Silvere Bruiloft Van / Bernardus van Vijve / en / Margareta Schrick /Getrout op den 29 Maart 1711 / En Geviert op den 2 April // Anno 1736 . Bemolt 891. Cast and chased as made, with the year letter B on the edge. Beautifully made and very attractive. With a very small hole for a display stand on the bottom edge, and one almost imperceptible edge knock, otherwise , extremely fine. Interestingly enough, an example of this medal was in the baggage of one of the passengers on the Hollandia, a brand-new (she was built in 1742) Dutch East India merchant ship, which sank off the Scilly Isles on 13 July 1743. All hands were lost; the wreck was later discovered by divers in 1971.