| METALLIC BARD - Medals of Robert Burns
Among the great numbers of souvenirs of Robert Burns (1759-1796), the medals are perhaps the least well known. This unique exhibition draws together as many of these as possible from the Hunterian's own holdings and two important private collections.
'O wad some power the giftie gie us |
| Few contemporary portraits of Burns exist and the best known of these is the bust by Alexander Nasmyth painted in Edinburgh in 1787 . From this, and further sittings, John Beugo made an engraving for use with the first Edinburgh edition of Burns' poems. This was re-used many times and the Nasmyth-Buego likeness appears to form the basis of most medallic images of the Bard. |  |
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In 1807 Thomas Henning produced a wax portrait of Burns. He appears to have used a smaller version of this as a model for a number of cast silver and bronze medals. |
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In the summer of 1844 a grand festival held on Doonside was attended by his three surviving sons and on 6th August a dinner was held in Glasgow to mark the occasion. Medals were struck to commemorate both events. Two further medals were issued to commemorate the centenary of the poet's birth in 1759. |
| Many public statues have been erected in memory of Robert Burns. Four of these, unveiled towards the end of the 19th century, at Glasgow, Dundee, Dumfries and Irvine, were accompanied by the issue of medals. The sale of these helped towards the cost of the statues. |  |
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Burns' poems were first published by the Kilmarnock printer John Wilson in 1786. They were a huge success. A medal was struck in 1886 to commemorate the centenary. Perhaps the finest medal of Robert Burns was struck by John Pinches of London in 1896 for the Dumfries Centenary Committee. |
There is then a gap until the 1980s when a number of souvenir medallions of Burns appeared, mostly produced by Tower Mint Ltd. of Greenwich. A great variety of prize medals, Burns Club badges and masonic tokens also exist. Contemporary Communion Tokens issued by the kirks associated with Burns might even have been used by the Bard himself. |
[Introductory page | Burns' Life | Burns' Medals Display]
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| Address comments by e-mail to Donal Bateson - dbateson@museum.gla.ac.uk |