A. H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd are delighted to announce that they have been chosen to auction the extensive collection of Renaissance and later medals formed by the New York connoisseur and fine art collector, Michael Hall.

The Michael Hall collection comprises in excess of 2000 items, making it by far the largest sale of Renaissance pieces since the Max and Maurice Rosenheim (Sotheby 1923) and Henry Oppenheimer (Christie’s 1936) sales. The first auction is scheduled for May 2010.

Before turning to the world of antiques, Michael Hall’s earlier years were spent in Hollywood. Most memorably, in 1946, he was cast as Fredric March’s son in William Wyler’s “The Best Years of our Lives”. The majority of the collection was formed in the 1960s and ‘70s, a period when Hall was living for much of the time in London.

The medals were purchased from the dealers of the day, in London and other European centres, rather than at auction. Over the ensuing years the collection has remained mostly unseen. Michael Hall gifted most of his British medals to the Los Angeles County Museum some years ago, though some important pieces were retained and will be offered in the sales. The strength of the collection is in early Italian medals, otherwise it remains very comprehensive in the medals of later Italy, France, Germany, the Holy Roman Empire and the Netherlands.

There are extensive groups of Papal medals, many of which featured in the 1981 publication Roma Resurgens, Papal Medals from the Age of the Baroque; and a group of Florentine Baroque medals that will be seen as a match to the Lankheit Collection sold by Morton & Eden (May 2003).

One of the most important pieces to be included in the first sale will be Pisanello’s cast bronze portrait medal of Cecilia Gonzaga. Antonio Pisano, called Pisanello (c. 1395 – c. 1455), was the pioneering artist who, from around 1435, turned his portraiture into a medallic format, the first artist so to do.

Dating from 1447, the medal of the 21 year old Cecilia Gonzaga shows his only female subject. On the reverse, in a moonlit landscape, she is depicted near-naked as the figure of Innocence who, as a virgin, is able to tame the Unicorn. It is an image filled with symbolism – Graham Pollard in the new (2008) catalogue of the collection of the National Gallery in Washington, calls it a “gracious and charming conceit”.

This stunning medal was selected by the art historian Stephen K. Scher for the 1994/5 touring exhibition, The Currency of Fame (as were four further medals in the collection). Baldwin’s are expecting the medal to sell for a figure in excess of £65,000.

Ian Goldbart, Managing Director of Baldwin’s, admitted to being overwhelmed by the sheer size and quality of the collection, “We have made the sale of commemorative, historical and artistic medals a feature in our auctions and have been complimented on our presentation, accurate descriptions and historical footnotes. The sale of Michael Hall’s collection takes us to a new level and we are looking forward to the challenge”.

The appointment of Baldwin’s to sell this collection marks the continued expansion of the company since its merger with Noble Investments (UK) PLC; it is fast becoming a formidable force on the international Numismatic stage.

For more information about any of the other lots in the sale please contact Graham Byfield on +44 (0)20 7930 9450 or at graham@baldwin.co.uk

For press enquiries please contact Caroline Newton on +44 (0)20 7930 9808 or at carolinenewton@baldwin.co.uk

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