GOETZ: Tirpitz Trial vs. Final medal

cacheman

Opus 155 “GROSSADMIRAL TIRPITZ MEDALLIC OBVERSE TRIAL” 1915, Silver (low grade, per consigner), 90.3mm tondo on a 110 x 106mm irregular foundry cast. About uncirculated. This fork-bearded uniformed bust was being prepared for the medal (on right) hailing the beginning of the U-Boat warfare against England. It includes curving artist’s guidelines (scribes) and a saltire-shaped Order badge around the admirals neck that does not appear on the finished medal.

I will be contacting David Alexander at Stack’s this week to pick his brain about the comment of this trial being cast in low grade silver by order of a consigner. It doesn’t make sense to me why such an order would have been made. Goetz undoubtedly had created many commemorative and portrait medals under commission but, I question why this one would have been commissioned in the first place and by whom…and why would they want a trial done in silver? It was the middle of WWI and I would imagine that metal resources would have been slim pickings. That fact alone can attest to the rarity of this trial piece as it must have been important enough to be stashed away and not melted done again.

oldshep

Shep

cosmicdebris

Where are you putting all of these larger pieces?

Clankeye

That is most excellent.

I think if I could grow facial hair like that--life would be a walk in the park.


Clankeye

cacheman

"Where are you putting all of these larger pieces?"

They sit it the medal cabinet just the way you see them....

Askari

It's very neat to see evidence of the evolution of the design! Notice that the face has become "fuller" too. The medal he wore was the famous "Blue Max" -- the Pour le Mérite -- and I'm surprised Goetz dropped it. Here's a little something for you: Thinking he may have switched to a more flattering photograph for reference, I did a little searching and I believe I've found the photo Goetz actually used for the final version: Tirpitz w/o Blue Max!

Actually, by that time in the war, silver was more available since it wasn't a strategic metal like bronze or copper. The consignor probably had to provide the metal for the trial since useful metal was so difficult to come by. (It is not unusual for German bronze medals of this period to have planchet defects and spots due to metal impurities, since the medallists essentially had to settle for melting down whatever scrap they could come by.) For this purpose, low-grade silver would have been reasonable since the other main alternative was iron, which doesn't strike up at all well.

cacheman

Thanks for the photo link Mark...

I still have to wonder why a trial had to be cast in the first place. I mean, a medalleur could easily produce a medal without the necessity of producing a trial cast, especially a trial cast as "rough" as this one. I mean, what would be the purpose? It would be easy enough to tell from the model what would be produced from it. And if medal was so scarce, and silver must have been to some degree, why would they even go to the trouble. Something doesn't add up and I'll have to ask Alexander....

Askari

Silver was hoarded mostly. There wasn't much you could use it for to make military hardware. Perhaps photography would have been a consumer, but that wouldn't have burdened the supply much.

I have no idea why there was a need for the trial cast. Perhaps the person placing the order also commissioned him to make several trials and send them to him for review first. I can only speculate. I'll be interested in hearing what you learn!