Jewellery - 1st May 2014
Lot 1749
A George III gold and enamel 'Recovery' medallion
Estimate £1,000 - £2,000 | Hammer £2200
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Description
A George III gold and enamel 'Recovery' medallion, 3.5cm wide, to celebrate King George III's return to health in 1789, which transpired to be only a brief period before returning to his mental illness.
Similar medallions are found in the Royal Collection and also the Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge.
Despite King George having suffered from repeated bouts of porphyria for most of his life, so confident was Parliament of his full recovery that a proclamation was declared on March 10th 1789. Suspicion developed shortly afterwards when the King started the habit of ending sentences with the word Peacock and at times believed he was Alfred the Great.