Jhr. Mr. C.H. Backer vereerd door advocaten en procureurs te Amsterdam 1892 1891

This bronze medal was made in 1892 by the Koninklijke Utrechtsche Fabriek van Zilverwerken van C.J. Begeer. The medal commemorates Jhr. Mr. C.H. Backer, and was presented to him by lawyers and solicitors in Amsterdam. As an object, the medal embodies certain institutional hierarchies. The very act of commissioning a medal, a durable object made from valuable materials, speaks to the high regard in which Backer was held by his peers. The inscription makes this clear, surrounding the text with a laurel wreath, a classical symbol of honor and victory, to further amplify the intended message of respect. But what exactly earned Backer this recognition? By consulting archives from the period and studying the history of the Amsterdam legal community, one might learn more about the professional life of Jhr. Mr. C.H. Backer and the social structures that shaped his career. By considering the historical context, we can interpret the medal not just as a memento, but as a window into the values and power dynamics of the late 19th-century Dutch legal establishment.