 Gilbert Stuart American Art-Union Medal, 1848. Silver, 64mm, 2,201.6 grains. Choice Brilliant Proof. PE-33, but unlisted in this metal and almost certainly unique as such. The obverse is toned in a rich, deep coin silver gray shade. There are traces of pale iridescent blue and rose toning in the fields. The surface is brilliant with the watery appearance of a fine Mint Proof strike. Charles Cushing Wright's masterful portrait of Gilbert Stuart faces left in high relief with the subject's name, GILBERT STUART around. Wright's name is below Stuart's bust while designer Salathiel Ellis' is along the rim at the base. The reverse is a lighter shade of gray with lovely, pale rose and blue iridescence. The fields are bright and reflective. C.C. Wright's engraving shows the personification of the Union crowning a painter with a victor's wreath while a sculptor awaits his own honor in the middle ground. Inscribed around is AMERICAN ART-UNION, the date, 1848, on a tablet above the exergue, with the designer's signature, DUGGAN, above and Wright's signature, below. Here is an important opportunity for the advanced collector of U.S. Mint medals. This is only the second time this medal has appeared at auction since Virgil M. Brand's death in 1926.
Ex Virgil M. Brand Collection III (Bowers & Merena, June 18, 1984, lot 1292).
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