[SCHRAUBTALER.] A Short History in Miniature of the Origin and Progress of the Late War from its Commencement to the Exchange of the Ratification of Peace between Great Britain France & Spain, on the 10th of Feb. 1763

George Washington’s First War in Miniature

[SCHRAUBTALER.] A Short History in Miniature of the Origin and Progress of the Late War from its Commencement to the Exchange of the Ratification of Peace between Great Britain France & Spain, on the 10th of Feb. 1763 [London?: s.n. c. 1763.]

Round brass Schraubtaler (diameter c. 50 mm) , embossed profile portraits of George III to upper side and of George II to lower side; containing 2 identical copper-engraved textual roundels pasted inside brass lids, and 60 loosely-inserted copper-engraved roundels (diameter c. 47 mm), each comprising two engravings pasted together and depicting military, naval or ceremonial scenes, or bearing text; several roundels joined in groups in concertina form with cream silk thread, but majority detached and loose; one roundel with stub of green silk ribbon for lifting; brass sides slightly curved inward, light marks to case; paper in very good condition.

A brass Schraubtaler, or screw-medal – a coin- or medal-shaped container with a hidden interior compartment – celebrating the British victory in the Seven Years’ War, concealing an engraved visual and textual chronicle of the conflict, including the military campaigns in North America between France and Great Britain.

The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) is often described as the first global war, pitting a coalition led by Austria, France, Russia and Spain against Great Britain and Prussia. Fighting extended across Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean, India, coastal Africa and the Philippines. In North America, the conflict encompassed the French and Indian War (1754–1763), fought between Great Britain and France and their respective Indigenous allies. The war concluded with a series of peace treaties, most notably the Treaty of Paris, signed on 10 February 1763 by Great Britain, France and Spain. France ceded extensive North American territories to Great Britain, marking a decisive shift in the balance of colonial power and paving the way for an era of expanded British dominance overseas.

In A Short History in Miniature, text and illustrations generally complement one another, although their correspondence and sequence are not always exact. The events described include several naval engagements and sieges, as well as the marriage of George III to Princess Charlotte in September 1761. The account of events in North America also records the actions of a young George Washington (1732–1799) during his early military career in the Virginia Regiment. In 1753, aged twenty-one, he travelled as an emissary for Virginia’s lieutenant governor, Robert Dinwiddie (1692–1770), to deliver an ultimatum to the French commander Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre (1701–1755), demanding the withdrawal of French forces from the contested Ohio River Valley, where they were establishing a chain of forts.

A characteristic product of the German-speaking countries, Schraubtaler are relatively uncommon in Britain. In the eighteenth century, roundels of a similar size, known as ‘watch papers’, were printed with advertisements for London watchmakers, portraits or pastoral scenes, to be inserted inside watch cases. Other examples of the present Schraubtaler are known with cases made of silver or bone, which, like the present brass case, bear portraits of George II – who died during the war in 1760 – and George III.

We have located only two other copies in the United States (Brown and the Society of the Cincinnati), and two in the United Kingdom, at the British Museum; the Brown example appears to be the most complete, with sixty-two roundels, the same number as the present copy.

SKU: 2126644