Joseph-Pierre Braemt (15 June 1796 – 2 December 1864) was a Belgian

medalist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

and

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

designer.

Biography

After training at the academies of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

and then

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Joseph-Pierre Braemt perfected his craft in Paris with the engraver André Galle and Baron

François Joseph Bosio Baron François Joseph Bosio (19 March 1768 – 29 July 1845) was a Monegasque sculptor who achieved distinction in the first quarter of the nineteenth century with his work for Napoleon and for the restored French monarchy. Biography Born in ...

, a renowned sculptor of the time. He was appointed general engraver of the ''Hôtel des Monnaies'' in Brussels and produced the first Belgian coins. He was a founding member of the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, sometimes referred to as ') is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Comm ...

Works

His work includes the following: *1826 : medal commemorating the completion of the digging of a canal between the Haine and the Escaut, under the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, *1830 : medal of recognition to the ''Garde civique'', under the Provisional Government of Belgium, *Starting in 1832 : **silver franc coins with the portrait of King Leopold I (5 silver francs, 2 1/2 silver francs, 2 silver francs, 1 silver franc, 1/2 silver franc, 1/4 silver franc, 20 centimes silver), **copper pennies with the Belgian lion and the national motto, in French, "l'union fait la force" (10 cents, 5 cents, 2 cents and 1 penny).

Legacy

A street in the municipality of

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the C ...

, where he owned a large property called "Campagne de M. Braemt" (Mr Braem's countryside), on which the street was partly drawn, bears his name.

Bibliography

* De Seyn, Dictionnaire biographique…., vol. I, sub verbo. * L. Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists : Braemt, Joseph Pierre, t. I, London, Spink & Son Ltd, 1904, 691 p., p. 260–261.

References

19th-century medallists Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts alumni Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent) alumni Coin designers 1796 births 1864 deaths {{metalworking-stub