Huwelijk van Willem V met Wilhelmina Frederica Sophia van Pruisen te Berlijn 1767

This silver medal, commemorating the marriage of Willem V to Wilhelmina Frederica Sophia of Prussia, was made in Berlin in 1767 by Elias Gervais. The cool, bright luster of the metal lends an air of aristocratic dignity. Consider the process by which this object was made; the silver would have been mined, smelted, and refined, perhaps far from Berlin itself. The medal maker would have used a combination of die-striking to create the basic form, and then chasing and engraving to add fine detail. The portraits of Willem and Wilhelmina are rendered in exquisite detail, and the inscription around the edge is crisp and clear. This medal straddles the worlds of art and craft. Its design reflects a high degree of artistic skill, but it was also produced using techniques common to metalworking. By appreciating both aspects, we can understand how objects like this participated in a broader culture of making and consumption.