Great Britain: Boer War Memorial. PAX / "Gave their Lives for Queen and Country"
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Form:
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Circular, cast.
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By:
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Emil Fuchs / Heaton Mint |
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Date:
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1900 |
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Ref:
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AM: 39; Hern: 96; BHM: 3679; Eimer: 1850; Laidlaw: 0006a;
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Variations:
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| Size | Metal | Mass | Value |
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| 69.9 mm | Silver | 122 gm | $450 | | 70.0 mm | Bronze | 122 gm | $320 | | 52 mm | Silver | | $390 | | 52.5 mm | Bronze | 56.3 gm | $270 | | 44.4 mm | Silver | 40.5 gm | $300 | | 44 mm | Bronze | | $220 |
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Edge:
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Plain. Sometimes engraved.
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Obverse:
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Helmeted figure of Bellona standing on a rocky ledge in the act of sheathing her sword. Below her, columns of cavalry and infantry marching along the coast towards ships waiting in a bay. To the left, above a headland, a radiant sun, inscribed: “PAX (peace)”. At the foot signed: “E. FUCHS”.
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Reverse:
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Winged angel with olive-branch kneeling over a fallen soldier clutching a flag standard. Beyond are soldiers and tents on a battlefield. Above, between the outstretched wings of the angel: “TO THE / MEMORY OF THOSE / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR / QUEEN AND COUNTRY”. Below, a plaque flanked by a palm fond (left) and a laurel branch (right) tied together with a ribbon at the foot, inscribed: “SOUTH AFRICAN / CAMPAIGN / 1899 1900”. At the base of the plaque, signed: “EMIL ( left) FUCHS (right)”. At the foot the letter “H”, the mint mark of the Heaton Mint.
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Notes:
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Comes inside a square, red, fitted case, lined with white silk and green velvet. Royal crown in gold on the outside of the lid.
Occasionally, examples are found with the name of an individual killed in the war inscribed on the edge suggesting that the medal was marketed as an unofficial memorial medal for the next-of-kin.
Emil Fuchs (1866-1929), sculptor and medallist of Viennese origin, worked in London and, latterly, in the United States. He evidently took pride in this particular example of his workmanship, because he exhibited the medal at the Paris Salon in 1908. In addition, he produced various portraits of members of the royal family. Perhaps the best known of these is his distinctive profile of King Edward VII, a defining image that came to be used on postage stamps and the Royal Society of Arts prize medal.
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