Vienna Exhibition Medal, 1873.

This bronze medal commemorating the Vienna World Exposition of 1873 was made by Karl Schwenzer (1843-1904) and Josef Tautenhayn (1868-1962). It was awarded to James Hector for his services to the Exposition.

The obverse side shows a portrait bust of Emperor Franz Josef I with the text 'FRANZ JOSEF I KAISER VON OESTERREICH KOENIG VON BOEHMEN ETC APOST KOENIG VON UNGARN' (Franz Joseph I Emperor of Austria King of Bohemia etc., Apostolic King of Hungary).

The reverse side shows an allegorical scene depicting a woman with a cornucopia handing a laurel wreath to a seated woman holding a distaff; between them is a man standing at an anvil holding a hammer and laurel wreath. The inscription reads 'WELTAUSSTELLUNG 1873 WIEN / DEN VERDIENSTE' (World Exposition Vienna 1873 / For Services).

The Vienna World Exposition
The Vienna World Exposition of 1873 was the first to be held in a German-speaking country. Modelled on the Great Exhibition held at Crystal Palace, London, in 1851, and subsequent events in London in 1862 and Paris, the Vienna World Exposition was intended to show to the world the industrial and cultural progress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its rapidly expanding and modernising capital city.

Mixed success
The Exposition was a huge and very expensive undertaking. But the collapse of the Vienna stock market shortly after it opened and a cholera epidemic in the city cast a shadow over the event and attendances were below expectations. However, the Exposition did earn enormous prestige for the Austro-Hungarian Empire abroad and opened up new trading opportunities, especially with Asia.

Hector and Buller
New Zealand was among the many foreign countries invited to participate and display their products and examples of their culture. New Zealand's exhibits were selected by James Hector in Wellington and Walter Buller in London. The selection set the pattern for New Zealand's displays at international exhibitions for the next fifty years or more.

Raw, manufactured, and cultural
The items shown were mainly examples of 'natural productions' - mineral samples (especially gold), samples of timber and flax, and agricultural products. Among the manufactured goods was a fine inlaid table made by the Vienna-trained Auckland cabinetmaker Anton Seuffert. Māori culture was represented by taonga (treasures) from the Colonial Museum (Te Papa's predecessor), and by a 'rebel flag' captured in the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s.