9 May -14 June
The Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Alexander Kirkwood & Son's website

Celebrating 200 Years of Medal and Trophy Making, RSA 200th Annual Exhibition. 

 

Alexander Kirkwood & Son is one of the oldest continuously operating independent family-run businesses in the world, a specialist in the manufacture of medals, trophies and silverware. Like the Royal Scottish Academy, it was established in 1826 in Edinburgh, and also celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2026.

Since 1858, Kirkwood’s has been supplying medals to The Royal Scottish Academy. It provides the Academicians’ Medal, the Maclaine Watters Medal, the Guthrie Medal, the RSA Gold Medal for Architecture, and has been commissioned to design and strike a miniature medal to commemorate the Academy’s bi-centenary. The Academicians’ and the Maclaine Watters medals were designed by Sir Joseph Noel Paton RSA.

As part of the Annual Exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy on The Mound, a special display of Kirkwood medals will be featured. Alongside RSA medals, there will also be medals on display from a wide variety of Scottish organisations including Schools, Universities, sporting bodies, charities and societies. The Annual Exhibition will run from 9th May to 14th June 2026.

 

Instagram - @alexanderkirkwoodandson
Linkedin - @alexander-kirkwood-son
 
 

Banner image: RSA Guthrie medal, reverse, designed by Sir Joseph Noel Paton RSA

  • About Alexander Kirkwood & Son

    RSA Guthrie medal, front, designed by Sir Joseph Noel Paton RSA

    About Alexander Kirkwood & Son

    Alexander Kirkwood & Son is a medallist, silversmith and engraver. It is one of the oldest family-run businesses in the world. With a workshop in Leith, the company has been Edinburgh-based since 1826. The company’s history goes back to 1774 to James Kirkwood, a clock maker from Perth. He moved to Edinburgh to produce the hand engraved plates for the first banknotes, and passed on his skills to his son James who became a renowned engraver of the plates used for banknotes, maps and globes. These skills were passed down the generations, and were similar to those required of a medal die-cutter. It was in this way that Robert's son Alexander, established the company as it is known today.