Revision of 2008-Wallace plaque replicas from Tue, 2008-12-16 17:05

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Wallace's independent discovery of evolution by natural selection whilst on the Indonesian island of Gilolo (Halmahera) [not Ternate!] in February 1858, the Wallace Fund is currently producing a limited number of replicas (around 20) of an attractive 55 cm diameter medallion or plaque featuring a side profile of Wallace's head. This is the only sculpture of Wallace known to be made of him whilst he was still alive. The Fund plans to donate the plaques to a wide variety of organisations worldwide which have an interest in Wallace:- ranging from the small museum at his birthplace in Usk, Wales; to the Royal Geographical Society of London (which facilitated his passage out to the Malay Archipelago); to organisations in the countries where Wallace collected natural history specimens (Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia).

The original plaque is owned by The Natural History Museum (London) (see http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/comp.php?img=49707&frm=med&search=alfred%20wallace) and is made of painted plaster, which was slightly damaged and expertly repaired a long time ago. The replicas are being made from Araldite epoxy resin with added bronze powder, cast from a silicone rubber mould of the original which the NHM Library kindly gave the Fund permission to make. Due to the fragile nature of the original plaque it is very unlikely that the NHM will allow another mould to be made in the future.

The plaque's history

An inscription on the plaque shows that it was made in 1914 by the well known sculptor Albert Bruce-Joy (1842-1924), who made several different portrait medallions of Wallace in a variety of materials, the earliest known examples of which date from 1906 (see http://wallacefund.info/paintings-and-sculptures). The NHM plaque is very similar to the memorial medallion of Wallace in white marble made by Bruce-Joy which is in Westminster Abbey, London (see http://wallacefund.info/fixed-monuments), except that it has a different border around it. Bruce-Joy based his portrait of Wallace on photographs and on a live sitting with the great man, possibly in 1897 when Wallace was living in Parkstone, Dorset. Thackery (1995) states that the provenance of the NHM's plaque is unknown, but that it has been in the Museum since at least 1931. Curiously the NHM also has plaster medallions of Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley which both have the same border design as the Wallace plaque (http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/image.php?search=darwin200&getprev=49651). The Darwin plaque is exactly the same size as the Wallace one and the Huxley plaque is 4 cm smaller in diameter. Both plaques were made by the sculptor Frank Bowcher (1864-1938) - the Huxley plaque was made in 1902 (presented to the NHM in 1931), and Thackery (1995) says that the Darwin one was made before 1920 and given by Bowcher to B. B. Woodward of the Museum in 1920. Why and for whom the plaques were originally produced is currently a mystery.

Funders of the project

 

 George Beccaloni with one of the replicas

The silicone mould of the plaque cost £540 to produce and this was paid for by donations from Prof. Charles Smith (http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/index.html) and the Bantam Charitable Trust (Trustees Michèle and Chris Kohler). Plaque replicas cost £130 each to make and a generous grant from the Royal Entomological Society (http://www.royensoc.co.uk) has paid for seven of them (Wallace was a past President of the RES). The cost of the remaining plaques (minus the cost of having the mould made) has been borne by the recipients.

Recipients of the replicas

The Fund will present replica plaques to a number of organisations in the UK which have a strong interest in, or connection to Wallace. In addition the Fund will give one or two replicas to each of the countries where Wallace collected specimens and did fieldwork i.e. Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. A number of other organisations with an interest in Wallace are purchasing plaques.

UK organisations which the Fund is donating plaques to:

1) The Royal Entomological Society (http://www.royensoc.co.uk)

2) The Royal Geographical Society (http://www.rgs.org/HomePage.htm)

3) The Natural History Museum, London (http://www.nhm.ac.uk)

Overseas organisations which the Fund is donating plaques to:

4 & 5) Brazil - INPA, Manaus (http://www.inpa.gov.br) and Museu Goeldi, Belém (http://www.museu-goeldi.br)

6) Singapore - Wallace Education Centre, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (see http://wallacefund.info/bukit-timah-nature-reserve-singapore)

7) Malaysia - The Sarawak Museum? (http://www.museum.sarawak.gov.my/indexeng.htm)

8 & 9) Indonesia - Bogor Botanic Garden, Java (http://www.bogor.indo.net.id/kri/a.htm) and possibly the proposed Wallace Museum in Ternate

Organisations which are receiving subsidised plaques:

10) Hertford Museum, Hertford: http://www.hertfordmuseum.org [purchased by the Richard Hale Association - http://www.richard-hale-association.org.uk]

11) Thurrock Museum, Grays, Essex: http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/heritage/museum/ [purchased by Thurrock Council]

12) Broadstone Public Library, Broadstone, Dorset: http://www.broadstone.net/community/library.htm [purchased by Broadstone Resident's Association]

13) University Of Glamorgan, Wales: http://www.glam.ac.uk [purchased by the University]

14) Usk Rural Life Museum, Usk, Wales: http://www.uskmuseum.org.uk [purchased by the Usk Civic Society]

15) The Skeptics Society, California, USA: http://www.skeptic.com

The only condition the Wallace Fund makes for receiving a plaque is that it is put on permanent public display and that a notice is hung beside it stating what it is and why and when it was presented.

One plaque to give away!

The Wallace Fund has one plaque to give away to a public organisation somewhere in the world which has an especial interest in Wallace's life and work. The organisation will have to guarantee that the plaque will be put on permanent public display. Applications should be sent to George Beccaloni [CLICK HERE] for consideration by Fund members. The deadline is the 31st January 2009.

Reference

Thackray, J. C. A. (1995). A catalogue of portraits, paintings and sculpture at the Natural History Museum, London. (Historical Studies in the Life and Earth Sciences No. 3). Mansell, London. 70pp.

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith