{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1389761"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1389761/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JY2823/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JY2823/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017JY2823","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JY2825","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JY3014","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1389761","accessionNumber":"A.3-2017","objectType":"Medal","titles":[{"title":"The John Charles Robinson Medal","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"This medal, commemorating John Charles Robinson (1824-1913),  was commissioned by the V&A from the artist Felicity Powell  (1961-2015) in 2002, with funds donated from an anonymous  donor. Robinson was Curator of Sculpture at the South  Kensington Museum (now the V&A) and acquired many important  works for the collection in the 1850s and 1860s. On the reverse  of the medal the artist has used as inspiration the hands from  the carved figures in the Annunciation by Arnolfo di Cambio of  about 1300. Robinson bought this work for the Museum in 1861  (see inv.no.7563-1861). The reverse replicates the handwriting  of John Charles Robinson taken from his letter, dated 6  September 1886, Madrid to the Museum, 'Now Is the Time'.   Surface treatments greatly affect the viewer's appreciaion of a  medal. Here Powell has applied a copper nitrate solution, under  heat, to give a greenish-blue patination. Unusually, she has left  the edge unpatinated. Instead, she has polished it and stamped  it with Robinson's full name and dates, adding also the cryptic  message 'From Few to Many'.  \r\nThis medal was presented to Michael Gettleson in acknowledgement of his support of the V&A. For further entries relating to the  processes involved in the making of the medal, see inv.nos. A.5  to A.9-2002, and A.10 to A.11-2004.","physicalDescription":"A circular cast medal c. 115 mm diameter, rounded profile, with  copper nitrate patination to both faces and bright bronze edge.\r\n\tObverse: replicates the handwriting of John Charles Robinson  (1824-1913) taken from his letter, dated 6 September 1886,  Madrid, to the Museum, 'Now is the time'. \r\n\tReverse: five hands gesturing. Composition taken from The  Annunciation (7563-1861 from the workshop of Arnolfio Cambio  in a relief style inspired by the Donatello marble relief Ascension  with Christ giving keys to St Peter (7629-1861)\r\n\tEdge stamped: 'JOHN CHARLES ROBINSON 1824-1913' and 'FROM  FEW TO MANY' and artist's mark 'FP 2002' and 'MICHAEL GETTLESON 2004'\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Felicity Powell","id":"A7098"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Alan Dunn","id":"A14322"},"association":{"text":"casters","id":"AAT25257"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"bronze","id":"AAT10957"}],"techniques":[{"text":"cast","id":"x32615"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Hollow cast bronze, copper sulphate patina applied with heat","categories":[{"text":"Coins & Medals","id":"THES48974"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[{"text":"Contemporary","id":"x31258"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2017JY2823","2017JY2825","2017JY3014"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES395434"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Medal","id":"AAT46025"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2002","earliest":"2002-01-01","latest":"2002-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"A.5-2002","id":"O72876"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"A.11-2004","id":"O106006"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"A.10-2004","id":"O110704"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"A.9-2002","id":"O72269"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"A.8-2002","id":"O72268"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"A.7-2002","id":"O72267"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"A.6-2002","id":"O72265"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"E.1034-2003","id":"O105641"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"E.1033-2003","id":"O105640"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Given by Sir Terence Etherton in memory of Michael Gettleson","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"11.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'JOHN CHARLES ROBINSON 1824-1913 - FROM FEW TO MANY - FP  2002'.\r\n'MICHAEL GETTLESON'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Decoration; Edge; stamped"}],"objectHistory":"This was the first commission of a contemporary medal made by the  Sculpture collection. The commission was entirely supported by  an anonymous donor. This medal, and 9 other medals medals were cast to be  presented as a gift to major donors of the Museum.\r\n\r\nHistorical significance: Felicity Powell (1961-2015) creates small- scale sculpture, building on the Renaissance practice of medal- making, to produce thoughtful objects with a distinctively poetic  resonance.\r\n\r\nUnlike traditional commemorative medals, this object does not  carry a portrait of the person, and unlike most medals it does not  have an obvious obverse and reverse sides. The phrase 'Now is  the time', (taken from a manuscript letter dated 6 September  1866 written by Robinson to the Museum and now in the  National Art Library) underscored by Robinson to stress the  urgency and strength of feeling expressed by the words, is as  much a portrait of the man and his state of mind at the time of  writing, as a physical likeness. This side is actually the obverse.  The reverse of the medal is inspired by objects Robinson  acquired for the collection. The shallow relief style of the hands is  derived from Donatello's  The Ascension with Christ giving the Keys  to St Peter  (Museum no. 7629-1861) and the gestures depicted by the  hands are taken from an Annunciation group from the Workshop of Arnolfo  di Cambio (Museum no. 7563-1861). In the artist's own words, 'the hands  signify the generosity of gesture and of passing the legacy on for future  generations'. \r\nThe phrase on this medal ‘FROM FEW TO MANY’, words chosen by the  artist, can be interpreted in several ways, but one of its meanings is a  reference to the anonymous donor whose generosity began the whole story.","historicalContext":"The medal links contemporary medal-making with the history of  the V&A. It commemorates John Charles, later Sir Charles,  Robinson, 1824-1913, first curator at the South Kensington  Museum (now V&A) from 1857 to 1863 and who had a significant  impact in developing the collections of Sculpture, particularly of  the Renaissance.","briefDescription":"Medal (The John Charles Robinson medal), bronze with a copper sulphate patina, designed by Felicity Powell, 2002, cast by Alan Dunn, inscribed and presented to Michael Gettleson in acknowledgement of his support of te V&A.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Helen Davies, ‘Robinson, Sir John Charles (1824–1913)’, Oxford Dictionary  of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Marjorie Trusted (ed.), The Making of Sculpture: The Materials  and Techniques of European  Sculpture, London, 2007, p. 78"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Roth, Nancy, '\"Now is the time\", Felicity Powell's tribute to John  Charles Robinson', The Medal, no. 42, Spring 2003, pp. 75-82"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Powell, Felicity, 'Drawn from the Well: photographing sculpture, a  sculptural practice', Sculpture Journal, 15:2, 2006, 123-6"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Williamson, Paul, ‘Recent Acquisitions (2000-06) of sculpture at the Victoria  & Albert Museum, London’, in: The Burlington Magazine, CXLVIII,  December, 2006, p. 894, fig XVII"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Melanie Vandenbrouck, 'Haptic pleasures: the medal as a hand-held object', in <u>Médailles</u>, 2012, pp. 181-188 (pp.182-183)."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Limited edition","id":"THES48862"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Sir John Charles Robinson","id":"N4387"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Sir John Charles Robinson","id":"A8789"},{"text":"Felicity Powell","id":"C2698"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"hands","id":"x31539"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["A.3-2017"],"accessionNumberNum":"3","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":2017,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-06-30","recordCreationDate":"2017-04-18","availableToBook":true}}