102741 | UNITED STATES & GREAT BRITAIN. Crystal Palace Co. silver award Medal.

102741  |  UNITED STATES & GREAT BRITAIN. Crystal Palace Company silver award Medal. Awarded 1891 to Walter MacEwen (63mm, 108.83 g, 12h). By G. G. Adams.

 

ORNATUR PROPRIIS INDUSTRIA DONIS, Britannia standing facing, holding trident and scroll; female personifications of the Arts and Industry to left and right; above, Fama flying left, trumpeting and holding cornucopia; view of the Crystal Palace in background // Engraving in eight lines in various scripts: "AWARDED / BY THE / Crystal Palace Coy / for a picture / A GHOST STORY / BY / W. MacEwen / 1891"; all within wreath. Edge: Plain.

 

Extremely Fine Details. Somewhat cleaned but starting to retone. A tremendous piece of Americana, and one in which the actual artwork can be identified.

 

Born in Chicago in 1860, Walter MacEwen often lived and painted in the Netherlands, with his style featuring a clear Dutch influence. One of his paintings, The Ghost Story (painted in 1887), depicts women of the house gathering to spin and prepare food. All eyes are fixed upon one of the women who is deep in an engrossing tail—that of a ghost story. The painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1888 and the Chicago World's Fair/Columbian Expo in 1893, among numerous others, with it winning praise not only for its technical approach but also for its capturing the essential qualities of the Dutch. The painting was clearly also exhibited at the Crystal Palace Company showing in 1891, where it won the present award medal. Unmistakably pertaining to the same work of art, this medal clearly belonged to MacEwen. As for the painting, it now resides in the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it has been since 1923 when it was donated by Mrs. Edward S. Harkness.

 

For a link to the painting in question, please click here.

 

Upload: 1 May 2024.

 

Sorry, this item is no longer available.