Inhuldiging van Maria Theresia als gravin van Brabant en Vlaanderen 1744

This silver medal, commemorating the inauguration of Maria Theresa as Countess of Brabant and Flanders, was made in 1744 by Jacques Roëttiers. The method of production – striking the silver – is key to understanding its purpose. The hard, cool metal lends an air of permanence and authority. The sharp relief of Maria Theresa’s profile and the allegorical imagery on the reverse were achieved by a master die cutter, whose skill would have been highly valued. The very act of minting these medals, distributing them widely, was a form of political messaging. Consider the economies of extraction and labour that enabled its creation: from the mining of the silver itself to the skilled artisan labor involved in its design and production, this seemingly simple object speaks volumes about the material culture of 18th-century power. The medal testifies to the hierarchies of the day, yet also to the power of craft to make those hierarchies visible.