The Peace of Utrecht
Daniel Drapentier
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1713
Materials
Silver
Measurements
483 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Dordrecht
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 773302
Summary
Silver, medal commemorating the Peace of Utrecht, by Daniel Drappentier (fl. 1680-97) and Jan Drappentier (fl. 1694-1713), Dordrecht, Netherlands, 1713. A silver medal by Daniel Drappentier (fl. 1680-95) and his son Jan, commemorating the signing of the Treaty of the Peace of Utrecht, on 31 March 1713. The obverse depicts a draped female figure symbolising Peace, holding an olive branch and locking the door of the Temple of Janus, which is inscribed with the date 1713. In ancient Rome, the doors of the passage of Janus, near the Forum, were opened in times of war and closed during periods of peace. The columns of the temple are adorned with roses, lilies and orange branches. On the steps are the chained figures of War and Discord. Behind Peace there lie a globe and a corncupia, out of which spills coins, and further behind still the figure of the god Mercury with his caduceus, symbolising commerce, and holding a scroll inscribed with the legend ‘Peace restored to Europe.’ In the distance may be seen shipping. The exergue is labelled ‘Utrecht’. On the reverse is the female figure of Europa, holding an olive branch and a cornucopia, seated on a shore with shipping to the left, and rays bursting from out of the heavens.
Full description
In the decades around 1700 the European powers engaged in a series of long and attritional conflicts. David Drappentier’s medal was originally struck by the city of Dordrecht to celebrate the Peace of Ryswick, signed in September 1697, which brought to an end the War of the Treaty of Augsburg or ‘Nine Years War’ (1688-97). This conflict, between France and a Grand Alliance consisting of Britain, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces, was fought in order, from the standpoint of the Grand Alliance, to limit the aggressive expansionism of France under King Louis XIV. At its roots was bitter competition between France and the Holy Roman Empire over the eventual succession to the throne of Spain, on the death of the childless Spanish monarch Charles II. There are a number of medals in the Jersey collection commemorating the Peace of Ryswick, in the negotiations for which Sir Francis Child the Elder (1641/2-1713) played an active part (see NT 773284-290;773311). Hopes of a lengthy period of peaceful coexistence following the meeting at Ryswick were disappointed since, in the event, the peace lasted only until the death in 1700 of Charles. Charles was discovered to have named as his successor Philip of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV. The result was the creation in 1701 of a new Great Alliance between the Empire, Britain and the Netherlands, in an attempt to bolster Austrian claims to the Spanish throne and to keep France within its borders. In 1702, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out, lasting until 1713 and the Peace of Utrecht. The War of the Spanish Succession involved conflict on land and at sea, within Europe but also in the Caribbean, North America and India. It was during the early stages of the war, when France was forced back within its pre-war boundaries, that the Duke of Marlborough won his famous victories at Blenheim (1704) and Ramillies (1706). Britain was the only one of the European powers with the financial resources to be able to fight both on land and at sea, and she would become the principal beneficiary of the Peace Treaty eventually negotiated by the exhausted parties and signed in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March 1713. So far as settlement of the original casus belli was concerned, Louis’ grandson Philip was confirmed as king of Spain, but renounced all claims to the throne of France. Spain was allowed to retain most of its possessions outside Europe, but forced to cede its European territories in the Netherlands and Italy. It was the Treaty of Utrecht which ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity. The Treaty confirmed Britain’s status as the leading European commercial and maritime power whilst, conversely, it marked the beginnings of the decline of the Netherlands as a major European power. The Treaty of Utrecht medal is identical in design to the earlier medal commemorating the Peace of Ryswick (Medallic Illustrations, II, pp. 172-73, no. 458) except for the date on the door of the Temple of Janus, which has been changed to 1713. It seems likely that this change was done by Daniel Drappentier’s son Jan. The Drappentiers’ medal is strongly focussed, as are two medals made in England by John Croker (NT 773300-301), on the benefits to maritime and land-based commerce expected from the peace. Indeed, at the same time as Britain and France signed their Peace Treaty, the two countries also signed a Treaty of Commerce. 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, on banner: EVROPAE PAX REDDITA. Obverse, on door: ANNO/MDCC/XIII Obverse, exergue: TRAIECTUM Reverse, exergue: EUROPA
Makers and roles
Daniel Drapentier, medallist Jan Drapentier (fl.1674 - 1713), 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, pp. 402-03, no. 262. Eimer 2010: Christopher Eimer, British Commemorative Medals and their Values, London 2010, p. 82, no. 459, Pl. 54.