Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 178
A bronze Seringapatam medal issued by the Honourable East India Company Birmingham, 1801-2
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£1,000 - £1,500
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A bronze Seringapatam medal issued by the Honourable East India Company
Birmingham, 1801-2
Birmingham, 1801-2
circular, depicting the British lion overcoming the Tiger, above a standard inscribed in Arabic asadullah al-ghalib ('The Lion of God is Triumphant'), inscribed below IV MAY MDCCXCIX, reverse depicting a view of the fortress of Seringapatam with troops massing outside, Persian inscription at bottom, suspension loop to top
48 mm diam.
48 mm diam.
Footnotes
The Persian inscription on the reverse reads khodadad seri rang patan ra 28 dhi'l-qa'da 1213 ba hijra, 'God-given, Seringapatam, 28th dhu'l-qa'da 1213 of the hijra' [3rd May 1799].
The medals were designed by Conrad Heinrich Küchler and 5,000 were produced in bronze at the Soho mint in Birmingham between 1801 and 1802. They were issued unnamed and without any means of suspension for wear. Recipients were expected to arrange their own ribbons, rings and bar suspenders, and some would have their own details engraved on the medal. For another example, see Sotheby's, The Tipu Sultan Collection, 25th May 2005, lot 44. A silver example was sold at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art, 29 March 2022, lot 186. A gilt silver example is in the British Museum (M.4391).