Isn't this a superb medal? It tries to do something for everyone, and very nearly succeeds in doing it. It contains an interesting error though, one that might have been expected to be caught by contemporaries. Davoust (modern spelling appears to be Davout) was bald and in this detail you can see that he apparently has donned a toupee for the honor of having his crotch crushed by Blücher's horse. That's got to hurt! He was known for wearing the wire spectacles that you can see. Also, this is another of those medals where the British / French bias surface simply in the choice of which side is the obverse, and which the reverse. For the British, Wellington is the obvious choice for obverse; for the French, Davout, even in defeat, is more interesting. |
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Is the dejected man in the left foreground of this detail Napoléon? I suspect he is, about to be escorted aboard a boat to be rowed to the ship. Blücher probably appreciated the fact that Napoléon was sitting under his horse's tail. |
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BHM 902 Tribute to Field-Marshal von Blücher |
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AR, AE, WM 74 by T. Halliday | AR RR; AE RR; WM N. | ||||||||||
E.P.M. 1888/75. | BM; BMAG; NMI. |
d'Essling 1480 Capitulation du maréchal Davoust à Hambourg. (Halliday). |
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STRUCK BY I. PARISH IN HONOUR OF HIS OLD FRIEND BLUCHER. Blücher à cheval, à g. passant sur le corps du maréchal Davoust. A l'horizon vue de la ville et du port. | R. Sur un cartouche orné de palme et de laurier, buste de ¾ de Wellington. Au-dessus figure ailée et couronne rayonnante. |
Au-dessus sur une banderole: THE FALL OF HAMBURGH'S TYRANT DAVOUST etc. | Au-dessous, sur une banderole: SUCH WELLINGTON ART THOU, TRIUMPHANT FAME SHALL THRO THE WORLD IMMORTALIZE THY NAME. |
(Ampach no 9328 - B. 1736). Arg., étain et fonte de Berlin, 78 mm. |