Vijftigjarig huwelijk van Jan Bronkhorst en Anna Westendorp te Amsterdam 1833

This bronze medal was made to commemorate the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Jan Bronkhorst and Anna Westendorp in Amsterdam. Made by Moses de Vries, the design is pressed into form, a process called striking or stamping that uses dies to impress an image or inscription onto a metal blank. The medal's materiality speaks to a particular moment in the history of commemorative objects, as they shifted from unique, hand-fabricated objects to mass-produced tokens. Here, we see the precision that die-striking allows, achieving high detail on a small scale, with the wreath on the reverse, and the figure of gratitude on the obverse. The repetitive, mechanized nature of this process contrasts with the personal sentiment that the medal is meant to evoke, highlighting the tension between mass production and individual expression. Looking closely at the making helps us understand the changing nature of commemorative objects in the 19th century.