GOETZ: Johan Klein Death medal K-127

cacheman

Opus 127 “JOHAN KLEIN” Councilor of Commerce Portrait/Death medal, Frankenthal, 1917, Cast Iron, 80.4mm. AU

Obverse Beared Bust ¾ left. Reverse, Tribute, founder of firm in Frankenthal, Pfaltz

So, you're probably thinking, "so what's the intrigue here?", right?... well this is a commissioned piece, by whom I don't know, perhaps family, but nonetheless commissioned. So there are probably, at most, 10 of these that were made...rarity makes it beautiful.

cosmicdebris

I wonder why they would want cast iron instead bronze? The color is so much better.

cacheman

Cosmic, remember your history? This was the height of WWI and I imagine other metals were pretty scarce, even iron was scarce as everything was going into the war effort. It is also possible that this may have been a trial cast. Either way, he made do with what he had or what was available.

1jester

The portrait is extremely life-like. I'm impressed.

Is the apparant porosity due to the iron used in the casting? I don't remember his bronzes being so bubbly-looking.

cacheman

It just depended on that casting...most came out excellent, and some were "oh damn" pieces...this one being the latter. I have dug around and it is unlikely that this is a trial piece. The actual commemorative pieces were cast in Bronze and given out to family and co-workers. It is likely that Karl just made up some extra cast iron pieces in hopes that he might sell a few extras. This according to another Goetz collect that gave me his opinion..

LovelyDarkAngel

lovely image and detail.