Death of Queen Mary II
Jan Luder (fl. 1685-1710)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1695
Materials
White metal
Measurements
585 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Great Britain
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 773283
Summary
White metal, medal commemorating the death of Queen Mary II (1662-94), by Jan Luder (fl. 1685-1710), struck United Kingdom or Netherlands, 1695. A medal in white metal commemorating the death, on 28 December 1694, of Queen Mary II (1662-94), joint monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland with her husband William III (1650-1702). The obverse has a bust portrait in profile of Mary facing right, her hair bound with strings of pearls and wearing a tiara in her hair. She is dressed in a loose mantle fastened at the shoulder with a brooch. The Latin legend reads ‘Mary II, by the Grace of God Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland’. The artist’s initials on the truncation. On the reverse are three draped female figures representing Wisdom as the goddess Minerva, Piety and Constancy, standing before a funeral pyre, from the top of which arises the phoenix, a mythical bird said to be able to arise living from out of fire. Wisdom is accompanied by an owl and an upturned torch, Piety adds material to the burning fire in a tripod standing before her, and Constancy stands disconsolate, her elbow resting on a column. The legend translates as ‘When will they ever find her equal?’ and, in the exergue ‘Died 7 January 1695’. The difference in the date reflects the use in the medal of the Old Style Julian Calendar, which was often used in Britain before the formal adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752.
Full description
Mary was the eldest daughter of the Duke of York, the future King James II/VII (1633-1701) and his first wife Anne Hyde (1637-71). Her sister was the future Queen Anne. Since Mary’s uncle King Charles II had no legitimate children, Mary was from childhood second in line to the throne after her father. She and Anne were brought up as Protestants according to the instructions of Charles II, so did not share the religious views of their father, who had converted to Catholicism in the late 1660s. In 1677 Mary married her cousin William III of Orange, moving with him to the Netherlands. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Mary moved back to Britain and reigned jointly with her husband, acting as sole Regent when he was away on campaigns (NT 773278). She died late in 1694 after having contracted smallpox. As she and William had remained childless, the succession devolved upon Mary’s sister Anne. Although Mary was the target of vicious propaganda from the Jacobites and was sometimes regarded as deferring too much to her husband, William in fact depended much on her for advice and was devastated by her death. Mary won general respect from many as a quiet, capable and wise monarch, qualities reflected in the allegorical reverse of this medal, by the Dutch medallist Jan Luder. The three virtues of Wisdom, Piety and Constancy stand in lamentation before a funeral pyre, from which emerges a phoenix, symbolising the legacy that the queen left behind her. A significant number of medals were issued to mark the death of Queen Mary II (for other examples, see NT 773280-773282). Jeremy Warren 2019
Provenance
Given to the National Trust in 1993 by George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey (1910-1998).
Marks and inscriptions
Obverse, legend: MARIA II. D.G. MAG. BRIT. FRAN. HIB. REGINA Obverse, on truncation: I.L.F. Reverse, legend: QVANDO VLLAMIN VENIENT PAREM. Reverse, exergue : OBIIT VII.ID. IAN./MDCLXXXV.
Makers and roles
Jan Luder (fl. 1685-1710), medallist
References
Hawkins, Franks and Grueber 1885: Edward Hawkins, Augustus W. Franks and Herbert A. Grueber (eds.), Medallic Illustrations of the History of Great Britain and Ireland to the death of George II, 2 vols., London 1885, vol. II, p. 112-13, no. 345.