GOETZ: Alfred Northcliffe K-150

cacheman

Opus 150 “ALFRED NORTHCLIFFE (Englische Hetzpresse) 1915, Cast AE, 57.3mm, UNC.

Obverse; British press magnate with grater. Reverse; Globe in flames started by the Devil (Northcliffe’s world’s largest newpaper chain, the Amalgamated Press). Inscription “The moulder of English public opinion, 1914.”

I don’t know the significance of the small frog below the grater but will look into it.

cosmicdebris

ANother great edition. How many Opuses are you up to now?

1jester

Very cool piece! Wonderful satire, as usual. Great visual effect.

I have no idea what the frog is supposed to signify, but I wonder if it might be some kind of reference to the Biblical plagues that the Egyptians suffered as the Israelites were about to exit to the Promised Land? I mean, if Goetz is using the devil on one side of the medal, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to try to make that kind of inference for the other side: he might be saying that British propaganda produces plagues.

But I'm only stretching.

laurentyvan

Superb piece scott. Jester got me interested in frogs as symbols so here's a little something from the web:

"In ancient Egypt, the frog appears as a symbol of fertility, water, and renewal. The water goddess Heket often appeared as a woman with the head of a frog. Frogs were also the symbol of the midwife goddess Heqit, who ruled conception and birth, and Egyptian women often wore metal amulets in the form of frogs to enlist her good favor. Frogs appeared in great numbers each year at the flooding of the Nile, an event which was crucial to agriculture in that it provided water for many distant fields. Frogs thrived in the muddy bogs left by the receding waters, and it is easy to imagine how frogs came to be viewed as favorable symbols of abundance. In fact, the frog became a symbol for the number hefnu, which meant either 100,000 or simply "an immense number." Perhaps it is frogs' impressive fertility combined with their association with water, so important for human life, that has led humans to see them as such potent and positive symbols.

In pre-Colombian Mesoamerica, many tribes worshipped a goddess known as Ceneotl, the patron of childbirth and fertility, who took the form of a frog or a toad with many udders. Also, frogs and toads were considered spirits of rain, and were used in many rituals intended to bring the rains. The Aymara tribe of Peru and Bolivia made small frog images, which they placed on hilltops, to call down the rain. Indeed, if the rains failed, some tribes blamed the toads for withholding the rain, and would lash them in punishment.

The early Aztecs saw the toad as Tlaltecuhti, the earth mother goddess, who embodied the endless cycle of death and rebirth. She appears either as a real toad or in quasi-human form, with clawed feet and a gaping fanged mouth, and her joints are adorned with human skulls. She usually appears in a squatting position, giving birth to the new world, while dying souls pass through her fanged mouth to the netherworld. In one legend, she is the source of the entire universe: Quetzalcoatl, the bird-serpent god, and Tezcatlipoca, the magician-jaguar god, find her floating alone on the primordial sea. They tear her body in half, with one half forming heaven, and the other forming the earth. Some common Mesoamerican toads are known to cannibalize their own and other toad species, which may explain the use of the toad as the image of destruction as well as fertility or rebirth.

The ancient Chinese saw the toad as a predominantly female force, a negative "yin" in opposition to the positive male "yang." The moon was the ultimate symbol of yin, and so many Chinese tales refer to the toad whose face is visible at the full moon. Interestingly, this moon-toad was thought to occasionally swallow the moon, causing eclipses.

1jester

Wow! Frogs were more widely revered than I'd thought. Thanks, Laurent.

And now I know why my aunt collects all types of the little critters.

cacheman

Thanks! I'll send an email to Kienast and see if he has a clue. One of the biggest challenges with my collection will be to recognize and understand Karl's symbology which hasn't been interpreted as yet. S

1jester

It looks like Northcliffe is writing with a forked quill. That could be quite significant.

Donovan

<< <i>I don’t know the significance of the small frog below the grater but will look into it.
] >>



It obviously represents the French.

cacheman

I don't know about that...Goetz used only a cock/rooster to signify France in other pieces.

Donovan

<< <i>I don't know about that...Goetz used only a cock/rooster to signify France in other pieces. >>



It was a joke. The derogatory term for a Frenchman is "frog".

cacheman

I knew "frog" could be applied to the French and even the inhabitants of Belgium but it didn't begin until after WWII I believe...

Donovan

It was a current slur during WWII, but I'm not sure how much earlier it was in use. Besides, I never let facts get in the way of a joke.

cacheman

well, the frog on the medal isn't pithed yet...maybe we should make more fun of them...