Pair Antique Plaster Relief Portrait Medallions Walter Scott & Lord Byron Framed

A pair of 19th-century plaster relief portrait medallions of two giants of Romantic literature, each a circular roundel with a profile bust in crisp relief, mounted on a black ground within painted wooden box frames.

The first depicts Sir Walter Scott in profile to the right, wrapped in a tartan plaid – the checked weave of the cloth beautifully rendered in the plaster. The second shows Lord Byron in profile to the left, with his characteristic curling hair and bare neck above classical drapery fastened at the shoulder with a brooch.

Both medallions carry an indistinct impressed inscription below the truncation of the bust where the modeller’s name would be placed. Profile medallions of this kind were produced in the first half of the 19th century after the portrait medals and busts of the day, and were cast in plaster for sale to admirers of the poets; they were often framed as pairs, as here.

Size: each frame approximately 21 x 21cm.

Condition: good for their age, with surface marks, small nicks and light grime to the plaster consistent with age; the frames show minor wear. The reverse of each frame is backed with card and fitted with cord to hang. Sold as a pair.

Dispatch and packing. Sent from the UK, carefully packed. International buyers welcome – postage is calculated at checkout.