Verslaan van de Spaanse vloot door sir John Jervis bij Kaap St. Vincent 1797

This bronze medal commemorates Sir John Jervis's victory over the Spanish fleet at Cape St. Vincent, on February 14th, 1797. Its creation involved skilled die-cutting and striking. The medal's imagery, including Neptune, god of the sea, is rendered in high relief. The inscription on the reverse, celebrating the British naval victory, reminds us that the meaning of any medal lies as much in its distribution, and the context of its use. The medal can be understood as an object of propaganda, designed to promote British naval power, and a growing sense of national identity. But like any made thing, it also reflects the labor of those who created it, a process that involved not just artistic skill but also the industrial capacity to produce these objects on a relatively large scale. This melding of art, industry, and social context, challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.