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Mint:
London
Artist:
Wyon, Leonard Charles
Artist:
Poynter, Edward John
Ruler:
Victoria (1837-1901)
Ruler:
Victoria regina
(With the title of)
Peace-keeping operations in the British possessions in Africa, as anywhere else, required a large number of small campaigns, several of which, from 1892 until 1900, were considered to merit this medal, which in terms of design is a continuation of the Ashantee War Medal. Recipients who held that medal already were therefore awarded only extra clasps.
The Brass River, or Benue River as it is now known, is a tributary of the Niger River, and in the 1890s the tribes local to it, whose ruler King Koko had his capital at Nimbe in modern Nigeria, were increasingly concerned about European inroads into the palm-oil trade, which threatened their livelihoods. In January 1895 the Royal Niger Company's station at Akassa was attacked and more than forty people killed. Reprisal was carried out by four ships of the Royal Navy within a month and Nimbe partially destroyed.
This medal was awarded to Gunner T. Blakeley of the Royal Marine Artillery, serving aboard HMS St George. The vessel was soon after active off Mombasa where its crew also earnt the striking of this medal for M'wele 1895-1896. (Her complement later earnt another medal which has ended up in the Watson Collection.) Lester Watson purchased the medal from the London dealers Spink at some point before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Spink before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 36.3 mm
Weight: 38.58 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
1892 - 1900
Inscription present: Bust of Victoria facing left with veil
Inscription present: Scene of bush fighting around tree with fallen African to fore
Accession number: CM.1210-2009
Primary reference Number: 141304
Watson Catalogue: 103
Ordering: M-0093
Previous object number: LW.0093
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "East and West Africa Medal (1887-1900)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141304 Accessed: 2024-11-21 23:53:46
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141304
|title=East and West Africa Medal (1887-1900)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-21 23:53:46|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-141304
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0093_281_29.jpg"
alt="East and West Africa Medal (1887-1900)"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">East and West Africa Medal (1887-1900)</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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