Skip to main content

Hector Memorial Medal: CM.39-2005

An image of Hector Memorial Medal

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Alternative views

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Artist: Wyon, Allan Gairdner
Issuer: New Zealand Institute
Issuer: Hector, James, Sir (Struck in the name of)

Entities

Categories

Description

Sir James Hector was for much of the nineteenth century New Zealand's foremost man of science. He began his career in Canada as part of the Royal Geological Survey, and in 1859 came to New Zealand to found the Geological Survey there. In 1868 he became head of the New Zealand Institute, the country's premier scientific society, and remained so until 1903 when he retired. He died in 1907, and a fund was established to commemorate his work by the establishment of a prize for scientific research, which was duly established in 1908. The prize was, and is still, awarded in the form of a bronze medal, to the person whom the Awards Committee considers to have done the most that year to advance their field. The field concerned rotates annually through botany, chemistry, ethnology, geology, physics (in which were considered mathematics and astronomy) and zoology. The medal that is awarded for this prize was designed by Allan Gairdner Wyon, and this piece is a specimen in white metal; the Museum also has one in bronze.

Notes

History note: From the estate of the late Mrs Venetia M. Watson, daughter of the artist

Place(s) associated

  • Wellington (NZ)

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (2005-01-31) by Watson, Philip Charles

Dating

1914-07-14 CE - 1915 CE

Note

White metal specimen

Components of the work

Object composed of white metal Diameter 63.0 mm Die Axis 0 degrees Weight 97.94 g

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: Bust of Sir James Hector left with inscription "BORN / MDCCCXXXIV / DIED / MDCCCCVII" behind head, legend in border around

  • Text: TO·COMMEMORATE·THE·WORK·OF·SIR·JAMES·HECTOR·K·C·M·G·F·R·S·M·D·IN·NEW·ZEALAND·MDCCCLXIV--MCMVII [rosette]
  • Location: Obverse
  • Type: Design

Inscription present: Explorer in Maori dress with staff kneeling beneath palm tree with grasses behind, left hand raised to shade eyes and gazing at pair of birds on branch of small tree to right, lake with Maori canoe sailing right and mountains in backgrond; in the exergue, laboratory equipment including a retort, a globe and stack of books; legend in border around

  • Text: NEW · ZEALAND · INSTITUTE / FOR · SCIENTIFIC · RESEARCH
  • Location: Reverse
  • Type: Design

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: CM.39-2005
Primary reference Number: 156558
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 18 January 2013 Last processed: Tuesday 13 June 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Coins and Medals

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Hector Memorial Medal" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/156558 Accessed: 2024-12-23 00:27:13

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/156558 |title=Hector Memorial Medal |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-23 00:27:13|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-156558

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

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/cm18/CM_39_2005_281_29.jpg"
        alt="Hector Memorial Medal"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Hector Memorial Medal</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...