Owner Comments:
Warwickshire Birmingham DH #120
Obverse: A view of the interior of a temple, pictures hanging around the side of the temple, BISSETS MUSEUM & FANCY PICTURE MANUFACTORY
Reverse: Ornaments of spar, urns, etc. BIRMINGHAM beneath. ALABASTER SPAR & PETRIFACTION WAREHOUSE.
Edge: Plain
Diesinker: Thomas Wyon
Manufacturer: William Lutwyche
Issuer: James Bisset
Rarity: Common
James Bisset was an accomplished painter of miniatures and portraits. He invented a novel kind of painting on glass for which there was a great demand. When a Russian nobleman placed an order for a set for the Empress, he called them ‘Imperial’. He had a bazaar and museum on New Street and described his business as ‘ James Bisset, Museum (admission gratis), Jewelry, Toy, Fancy Miniature and Imperial Picture Warehouse, Repository for Alabaster, Spar, and Petrifacation Chimney Ornaments, original Marmatinto Drawings, Paintings in Oil and Water Colours, Curious Transparencies, Pearl and Hair Devices, Models in Wax, &c.’.
Rarity: Warwickshire 80
Bt. Gary Sriro