Vijftigjarig huwelijk van Gerardus van Houweninge, burgemeester en dijkgraafvan Werkendam en Seijke Kuijck, penning geschonken aan de kinderen 1836

This bronze commemorative medal was given to the children of Gerardus van Houweninge, burgomaster and dike grave of Werkendam, and Seijke Kuijck on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary. The medal's design, composed of concentric circles of text surrounding a central heraldic emblem, immediately brings to mind Ferdinand de Saussure’s structuralist linguistics. Just as language is structured through signs that gain meaning by their relation to each other, so too the medal’s design creates meaning. The arrangement of the elements, the inscriptions and emblem, serve as signs, creating a visual system of communication. The circular form suggests completeness and continuity, while the emblem, a kind of signature, reinforces the identity and status of the celebrated couple. This medal, through its careful structuring, operates as a symbolic object, celebrating not just a personal milestone, but also the structural underpinnings of social and familial bonds.