{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1772112"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1772112/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NV2934/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NV2934/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NV2934","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV2935","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1772112/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1772112","accessionNumber":"A.8-2024","objectType":"medal","titles":[{"title":"The Choice is Ours","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Ron Dutton (b. 1935) is widely regarded as a pioneer of the art medal form. He is a contemporary sculptor and medallist from Nantwich, Cheshire. After years of working mainly in sculpture, Dutton began producing medallic art in 1974. Of the medal, he states, ‘I see the medal as a small sculpture that offers creative opportunities beyond its traditional use, the two sides offering the opportunity to explore themes and ideas and the qualities of shape, colour, rhythm’ (Marcy Leavitt Bourne, ‘From Landscape to Lunarscape’). Dutton was instrumental in founding the British Art Medal Society (BAMS) in 1982. He has since served the society as both Secretary and President. He is currently listed as Vice President on the BAMS website. Dutton was also the British delegate for the Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d'Art (FIDEM), the foremost international medal foundation. He has been a key figure in revolutionizing the contemporary practice of medallic art. \r\n\r\nCommon themes in Dutton’s work include nature, landscapes, birds, flight, space travel, architecture, fantasy, memory, and poetry. He often refers to his own surroundings, specifically the British landscape, when considering new subject matter to explore. Dutton’s medals are unique in their exploration of nature and landscape, a subject ‘which has seldom been tackled by medallists, perhaps because it is so difficult to render light and atmosphere in bronze.’ Yet, his manipulation of the bronze’s  patina and careful means of contrasting textures allows for ‘a sensation of space and place extraordinary in so small a work’ (Mark Jones,<i> The Art of the Medal</i>).\r\n\n<i>The Choice is Ours </i>was originally put forth as a design for a conservation themed medal in a competition organised and funded by the Royal Mint. Dutton won the competition in 1990, and this specific medal was struck in 2004 as part of a limited-edition set (<i>The Medal</i>, no. 17, 1990). Dutton often uses his medals as a space to show concern for the environment and advocate for the protection of nature. On the obverse of <i>The Choice is Ours</i>, a tree is in danger of being swallowed by a sea of cardboard boxes. The reverse depicts a fish swimming in a sea polluted with the detritus of mankind, turning its shiny scales to mere ribs. Above the fish reads, ‘The Choice is Ours’. Dutton’s medal asks the viewer to choose what kind of world they want to live in, and to act upon that choice.","physicalDescription":"Circular struck bronze medal, depicting a fish/bottles on obverse and a tree/boxes on reverse. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Ron Dutton","id":"AUTH315711"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Bronze","id":"AAT10957"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Struck","id":"x32575"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Bronze","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Medallions","id":"THES49034"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2024NV2934","2024NV2935"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"042","id":"THES395429"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"The Choice is Ours","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2004","earliest":"2004-01-01","latest":"2004-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Ron Dutton","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"6.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Given by Ron Dutton in 2024. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"medal, biface, circular, struck bronze, 'The Choice is Ours', struck by Royal Mint, obverse depicts fish/bottles, reverse depicts a tree/boxes, by Ron Dutton, Wolverhampton, 2004","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Marcy Leavitt Bourne, ‘From Landscape to Lunarscape: Ron Dutton at the Royal Coin Cabinet, Stockholm’,<i> The Medal</i>, no. 46 (2005): 80."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Mark Jones,<i> The Art of the Medal </i>(London: British Museum Press, 1979)."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>The Medal</i>, no. 17, 1990."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Marcy Leavitt Bourne, “From Landscape to Lunarscape: Ron Dutton at the Royal Coin Cabinet, Stockholm”,<i> The Medal</i>, no. 46 (2005): 83."}],"production":"Struck by Royal Mint","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["A.8-2024"],"accessionNumberNum":"8","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":2024,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-07-21","recordCreationDate":"2024-02-08","availableToBook":false}}