A Victorian Elkington & Co electrotype Milton shield of oval form with ropetwist edge, the panels embossed with scenes from John Milton's Paradise Lost within gilt enriched borders with relief cabochon detail, the outer edge signed 'Morel Ladeuil Fecit 1866' and 'Elkington & Co', the reverse with applied oval plaque, detailed 'Department of Science & Art, Elkington' framing a crowned 'VR' cypher, length 85.5cm, width 64.8cm. Note: the original Milton shield was produced in silver and iron by the eminent French silver designer Leonard Morel-Ladeuil (circa 1820-1888). The renowned artist worked for Elkington & Co from 1859 and began work on the shield in 1864 with the express intention of exhibiting it at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. The shield received an enormously enthusiastic response where it was awarded the gold medal and the Art Journal declared it the best object exhibited that year. The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased the shield from the exhibition for the huge sum of 2000 francs, where it remains on display in room 122 of the British Galleries. Electrotype samples, such as the present Lot, are kept in other important museum collections, such as the Met Museum in New York and The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney.