Morton & Eden Ltd.
Lot 47
*The Master F.V., Duarte, 5th Duke of Guimaraes (1541-76) and nephew of King John III of Portugal, bronze-gilt medal, half-length portrait left in armour, holding baton and helmet; signed below right arm, f.v., rev., Athena standing left, holding spear, olive branch and shield (by Bombarda), 68mm (Arm. III, 99, A; Lamas 2 (an electrotype); cf. Attwood 655), pierced, an old cast with later incised inscriptions [Clifford lot 132]. Ex Jacques Schulman, Amsterdam, Auction 161, 31 October 1927, lot 19. The reverse is by the Emilian artist Bombarda (as Arm. III, 95, C) and does not belong to the obverse. Nevertheless, as a mule, Armand cited an example in the Royal Coin Cabinet in Parma so the combination of obverse and reverse is known. However, the present medal has been intriguingly adapted at a later date so as to pretend to depict King Edward V of England (the elder of the two “Princes in the Tower”) who reigned for two months in 1483 between the death of his father Edward IV and the crowning of his uncle Richard III. The baton held by the sitter is incised r.a. regnavit menses ii (“He reigned for two months as King of England”), the bust itself is incised aet xiii (“aged 13”, Edward V’s age when king) and on the helmet there is the date ann. 1483. With renewed interest in the English monarchy following the Restoration and the discovery of children’s bones in the Tower of London in 1674 which were assumed to be those of the princes (and are buried in Westminster Abbey) it is tempting to believe that someone at that time (or of course later) created this medal out of one with a very appropriate obverse inscription and with a portrait of a young prince - but as the portrait shows, not young enough!
