Gertrude Salman's suffragist medal to lead sale at Dreweatts

A selection of suffragist medals awarded to the Gertrude Lowly Salman is to headline a sale at Dreweatts and Bloomsbury in London on May 29.

The lot, estimated at £8,000-10,000 ($13,447-16,809), consists of a medal of valour and two brooches awarded by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a series of first world war medals awarded for service in Italy under the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD).

Suffragette medals
The medals were presented to Gertrude Lowly Salman during the early 1900s

Salman (1887-1982) first took to the streets to fight for universal suffrage at the age of 15. Her mother, Henrietta, was a vocal supporter of the cause and ran a tearoom from the family home in London to raise funds.

Gertrude was one of 200 women arrested following a protest in Knightsbridge in 1912 (allegedly she smashed a window) and was incarcerated for a period of two months, which she spent on hunger strike.

It was for this that she was awarded the medal of valour.

In 1919, she was presented with the Italian War Merit Cross and a Great War Pair for her work as a radiologist on the Austro-Italian front.

Also included are a range of books and biographical documents relating to the family, including information on Dr Nathan Salman, whom Gertrude married in 1926.

Baldwin's told Paul Fraser Collectibles: "Suffragette medals are pretty scarce and rarely appear on the market. The last time that this particular set were sold was at Glendining's in 1989, so it's nice to see them in London again as the family were important members of the local Jewish community.

"The fact that they are sold alongside a selection of first world war medals makes them particularly rare, as many suffragettes were directly opposed to the war and wanted no part in it.

"Items relating to the suffragettes have proven particularly popular in recent years, partly as a result of the recent centenaries".

We have this signed copy of Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf, who was a vocal supporter of the suffragette movement.  

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