Thank You Part I, 2019
A pile of hand polished bronze two pence coins dated between 1971 and 1991. Quantity unknown (a reflection of the unknown quantity of the original Suffragette ‘Votes for Women’ coins).
Part one:
Size Variable
Part two:
Sheet size
33 x 48 cm
13 x 18 7/8 in
Size Variable
Part two:
Sheet size
33 x 48 cm
13 x 18 7/8 in
Copyright The Artist
Circa 1912 one penny coins with a crudely stamped ‘VOTES FOR WOMEN’, across King Edward VII’s head started to appear. Little is known about who stamped the coins, nor how...
Circa 1912 one penny coins with a crudely stamped ‘VOTES FOR WOMEN’, across King Edward VII’s head started to appear. Little is known about who stamped the coins, nor how many were stamped. They were regarded as a Suffragette action targeting patriarchy.
‘Thank You’ consists of multiple parts. Part one is a pile of polished two pence coins, each of which has had ‘EQUAL PAY 4 WOMEN’ stamped across the two sides. The second part of the work is a print, showing a detail of the 1971 two pence coin. This was the year, after the 1970 Equal Pay Act, that decimal currency was introduced. It was also the year that Queen Elizabeth II’s allowance was more than doubled, from £475000 to £980000.
Recto: Reads ‘EQUAL PAY 4’ across the Queens head.
Verso: Reads ‘WOMEN’ across the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales.
This was the badge originally adopted by Edward, the Black Prince (1330-1376), as a sign of respect to his mother, Philippa of Hainault (the same woman whose compassion saved the Burghers of Calais). The three ostrich feathers emerge from a gold coronet, the ribbon below is inscribed with the German mediaeval motto, ‘Ich dien’, meaning ‘I serve’. These words are also a near – homophone for the Welsh phrase ‘Eich Dyn’, meaning ‘Your Man’.
‘Thank You’ consists of multiple parts. Part one is a pile of polished two pence coins, each of which has had ‘EQUAL PAY 4 WOMEN’ stamped across the two sides. The second part of the work is a print, showing a detail of the 1971 two pence coin. This was the year, after the 1970 Equal Pay Act, that decimal currency was introduced. It was also the year that Queen Elizabeth II’s allowance was more than doubled, from £475000 to £980000.
Recto: Reads ‘EQUAL PAY 4’ across the Queens head.
Verso: Reads ‘WOMEN’ across the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales.
This was the badge originally adopted by Edward, the Black Prince (1330-1376), as a sign of respect to his mother, Philippa of Hainault (the same woman whose compassion saved the Burghers of Calais). The three ostrich feathers emerge from a gold coronet, the ribbon below is inscribed with the German mediaeval motto, ‘Ich dien’, meaning ‘I serve’. These words are also a near – homophone for the Welsh phrase ‘Eich Dyn’, meaning ‘Your Man’.
Exhibitions
Precious Mettle – The Spirit of getting to a Good Place, whilst processing the Challenges of Life