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John Croker (1670-1741)

Medal commemorating the Revival of the Order of the Bath. 1725

4.65 cm (diameter) | RCIN 443205

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  • 1 medal : copper

    Obverse: Laureate draped bust of George I with long hair right. GEORGIVS . D . G . MAG . BR . FR . ET . HIB . REX . F . D .

    Reverse: Prince William standing facing garbed as a Knight of the Bath. SPES . ALTERA . In exergue: ORD . EQVIT . BALN . REST ./ ET . INSIG . AVCT ./ MDCCXXV

    ‘Whereas Our Royal Predecessors … have, on occasion … conferred … that Degree of Knighthood which hath been denominated The Knighthood of the Bath; We … hereby declare Our Royal Intention … to erect the same into a regular Military Order … called by the Name and Title of The Order of the Bath.’ Thus George I’s Letters Patent of 18 May 1725 (os) resurrected the Order, in abeyance since Charles II’s time, and never previously so formalised. The official medal issued for the occasion celebrated the revival of an old Order and the knighting of the second son of the new: the reverse shows the four-year-old Prince William (later Duke of Cumberland) in his Bath robes, with the heading SPES ALTERA (‘the other hope’ – in other words, he was the second son, the backup heir) and the motto, which in translation reads: ‘The Order of the Bath revived and its decorations augmented, 1725'. The Prince was the first Knight of the revived Order, which survives to this day.

    Text adapted from The First Georgians; Art and Monarchy 1714 - 1760, London, 2014.
  • Medium and techniques
    Measurements

    4.65 cm (diameter)

    56.78 g (Weight) (whole object)


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