Elisabeth Koster studied at Kingston School of Art in 1942-5 and at the Royal College of Art in 1945-7. From 1947 to 1951 she assisted Barney Seale FRBS, FRSA, working for the Festival of Britain. She won the Royal Scottish Academy’s Ottilie Helen Wallace prize in 1953. For many years she taught art, and also lectured in wood-carving and ceramic sculpture. She was elected an associate of the Royal Society of British sculptors in 1979, and in the same year was awarded the A. Cameron Miller award by the Scottish Society of Women Artists; in 1982 she was vice-president of that society. She has exhibited widely in Scotland and England. Amongst her commissions have been work for St Kentigern’s church, Edinburgh, and Edinburgh cathedral, including the main tabernacles of both buildings, executed in 1976 and 1991 respectively. In 1986-7 she worked with George Mancini on the restoration of Alfred Gilbert’s plaster casts for Eros and for the duke of Clarence’s tomb, St George’s chapel, Windsor. The artist writes: ‘From the age of ten I was determined to be a sculptor. As a young student at the Royal College of Art I was fascinated by a large German triptych in the Victoria and Albert Museum. This told the story of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelations, which has been a leitmotiv for me, inspiring many pieces of sculpture including four recent bronze medals. In 1947 I married the Peterhead sculptor Sydney Birnie Stewart, a brilliant man whose work has not been given recognition. I taught in Scottish schools until Sydney’s death in 1976, when I left to take up sculpture in my own right. Thanks to the Royal Society of British Sculptors, I was introduced to the medal, and it has been my favourite means of expression ever since. Its scope for a powerful message in a hand-held piece of sculpture is irresistible. The medal for BAMS, The World’s my Oyster, refers to the possibilities the world has to offer, but also has a second significance. The figure holding the world is holding “the pearl of great price”. In other words, we should treasure our world.’