Antoinette Penny

This penny was inspired by Marie Antoinette and is lovingly called the Antoinette Penny. 

The heads side of this Hastings Étui penny reads Au Milieu des Fleurs, meaning “Among the flowers.” The design is inspired by two portraits of Marie Antoinette in which she holds a floral bouquet with the same quiet hand position and compositional grace. For me, this image evokes the bucolic ideal of pastoral living, a vision of softness held in balance with sovereignty, gentleness paired with authority rather than opposed to it.

The tails side features a bow inspired by a diamond bodice ornament I encountered at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London during an exhibition devoted to her life and image. I extended the form with flowing ribbons to give the design a celebratory movement. Bows have long symbolized beautiful ties, adornment, and chosen bonds, the act of binding something not out of necessity, but out of care.