Jewellery, Watches, Silver and Objects of Vertu

Five oval ‘red sulphur’ portrait medallions, by James Tassie, within numbered gilt-edged paper frames:
(Images left to right):


A draped bust facing right, signed ‘Marchant F’ within moulded border, numbered 73, dimensions 24 x 21mm;
A bust facing right, in contemporary dress with three buttons showing; numbered 35, dimensions 32 x 28 mm;
A bust facing left, with prominent aquiline nose, in contemporary dress, signed ‘Brook’ beneath, numbered 85, dimensions 30 x 28mm;

A bust facing left, hair en queue, in contemporary dress, numbered 20, dimensions 25 x 18mm;
A bust facing left, a l’antique, signed ‘Warner F’ on the truncation; dimensions 20 x 16mm. £300-£400

“No medallist has made so extensive and important a contribution to national portraiture as James Tassie”: Gray (John Miller); James & William Tassie, Edinburgh 1894.


James Tassie (1735-1799) a Scot, developed a vitreous enamel paste for reproducing antique gems. The quality of these reproductions was such that his work became highly regarded both at home and abroad and he received commissions from many significant collectors, the most important being the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, for whom he produced some 15,000 casts. He also supplied casts for Josiah Wedgwood and in addition was responsible for a large number of portrait medallions of his contemporaries. He copied the work of other gem engravers, such as Nathanial Marchant, whose name appears on one of the medallions in the offered lot, who perfected his skills as a gem engraver in Rome, was also highly regarded and received commissions from numerous members of British and European nobility including the Duke of Marlborough and William Beckford, those on the Grand Tour and even Pope Pius VI.