Lot 9: A Birmingham enamel Anti-Gallican society badge, circa 1756-60

Of oval shape, the arms depicting Saint George spearing the fleur-de-lis of France, he is surmounted by Britannia and flanked by the British Lion and the Prussian two-headed Eagle, a ribbon scroll below inscribed with the motto 'FOR OUR COUNTRY', the plaque 8.8cm high, in a simple metal mount (some cracks and restoration)

The Anti-Gallican Society was formed around 1745 in opposition to the influx of French goods then coming into England, and the pervasive cultural influence of France. One of the early Grand Presidents of the Society was Stephen Theodore Janssen, proprietor of the Battersea enamel works in London. It is likely these medallions were first produced at Battersea and continued in Birmingham after 1756 following the failure of Janssen's venture