Askari's 2004 Medallic Gallery
Askari
Posts: 3,713 ✭
FatMan asked us to show our favorite purchases of 2004, but in a Christmas mercy for the dial-uppers, I thought I’d share a gallery of my favorite medallic acquisitions of this year in a separate thread. Since it is Christmastide, let me begin with some religious-themed works:
1) This lovely bronze French plaque of the Madonna & Child is, as betides Christmas, bittersweet. It is actually a death plaque, commemorating the demise of “DNS Ioannes Le Vasseva”, and dates from 1925. I cannot make out the artist’s mark, but I believe it is the product of one of the Dubois family, but I cannot tell which.
2) This anonymous silver 1897 German medal of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus is, appropriately enough, a baptismal medal.
3) This may be my very oldest medal; the seller thought it dated ca. AD 800-1400, but I suspect it’s more likely 1400-1700, perhaps from the Renaissance era. It is hand-engraved and resembles the “woodworking style” of the Germans, so it may be of that provenance. It appears to be made of silver, although not of high purity.
4) A most unusual bas-relief bronze plaquette, this exquisite Pentecost plaque is also hand-engraved and framed. It is probably North Italian or German and I suspect dates to the late 18th or early 19th century, and possibly earlier.
5) This gorgeous bronze Portuguese medallion (89mm) by Jorge Coelho was struck in 1985 to commemorate the Our Lady of Hope Convent on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. The design on the reverse is marvelous. Moreover, it holds a special meaning for me since I lived on the island of Terçeira in the Azores as a boy.
6) Émile Dropsy created this French masterpiece known as “Regina Cœli” (“Queen of Heaven”). This uniface bronze plaque honors Mary, the Mother of God, but appears intended as an award medal perhaps.
7) Georges Simon captures the beauty of the universe with this spectacular view of the galaxy in his 1967 blackened bronze medallion for the tricentennial of the Paris Observatory.
8) One of the most intriguing aspects of medallic art is that it so often focuses on portraying living beings on cold metal while somehow bringing a sense of the warmth of life to the metallic rendition. Belgian artist Laurent Joseph Hart captures the “human warmth” well in this 1840 bronze medal issued by the Belgian Royal Society of Science, Arts and Letters to commemorate the dedication of a monument in Antwerp to the famous Flemish baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens.
9) This large (107x133mm) medal/plaque was struck ca. 1920 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Italian Renaissance painter Raphael. This anonymous Italian medal pairs him with his beloved wife Fornarina. (For more of Fornarina's charms, check out his painting of her [ca. 1516-19] known as "La Fornarina".) This oval portrait medal is quite unusual in that it is made of bronzed white metal. (Due to some inspired good fortune, I have the Dante & Beatrice companion to this coming to me after Christmas.
I've attached a pic here.)
10) French medallist Claude Lesot captured another famous artist, German Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger, in this intriguing, two-toned bronze medal in 1965. The younger Holbein became the court painter for King Henry VIII and died in London in 1543, a victim of the plague.
11) Death is a most human tragedy and often makes its way onto medals. One of the most famous of these is Louis-Oscar Roty’s funeral plaque for French President Sadi Carnot, who died in 1894. Marie François Sadi Carnot was an oddity among politicians – he was greatly respected for his integrity. He was deeply mourned by the French people when he was assassinated by an Italian anarchist named Sante Jeronimo Caserio. This tragedy aroused widespread horror and grief, and the president was honored with an elaborate funeral ceremony in the Pantheon, Paris – which is captured allegorically by this bronze plaque.
12) Naturally, death is not the only way to make one’s way onto a medal, as is witnessed by this 1931 bronze medal by the American artist Frederick MacMonnies commemorating Charles Lindbergh, the famous “Lone Eagle.” The American Society of Medallists had only begun their annual issues of pairs of medals by American artists the year before, so this MacMonnies medal has the distinction of being SoM #4. The reverse bears an allegory of the elements attacking the Lone Eagle: a crowned, skeletal Death, a naked female Fury representing Lightning & Thunder, and a demonic Wind.
13) A popular series theme in the early 20th century was that of capturing the traditional regional costumes, the wearing of which was beginning to fade as dingy industrialization set in. The famous French medallist Georges Henri Prud’homme initiated such a series at the end of WWI, including this lovely one of a woman in Alsatian dress. (Reverse with stork nest added for Stork.)
14) Even more popular than Prud’homme’s series, though, was that by the well-known Frenchwoman Ernesta Robert-Mérignac. My favorite of her series is this bronze plaque of a woman of the Vendee (a western maritime province) in native costume. The “Vendéene” plaque’s reverse presents a typical Calvaire of the western French provinces.
15) “Pastorals” were another favorite form of medal among Europeans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the most famous of these was Georges Dupré’s “L’Angelus” plaquette, struck in 1900.
16) “Pastorals” were mostly, but not solely, bucolic. Belgian Godefroid Devreese’s undated gilt silver “Pastorale - Ballets Russes” plaquette is a fine – and rare – example which shows off art nouveau’s tradition of not being constrained simply to coin-like medallic forms.
17) Most often, art nouveau and art deco medals employ allegorical motifs involving personifications of virtues or national spirits or mythological characters. Here, French medallist Louis Desvignes conveys the sense of “Charité” in this sympathetic 1911 bronze medal.
18) Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis was noted for his playful style, as illustrated by his famous “Le Nid” (“The Nest”) plaque.
19) More dramatic is this bronze Belgian medal by Geerts for an Intl. Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology Congress in Brussels in 1872. If you’ve seen what archaeologists of that time imagined dinosaurs looked like, you’ll agree that there is far more “anatomical correctness” on this medal.
20) In the US, Amherst College’s Sabrina Society was noted for inviting literati to appear for the educational benefit of the daughters of America’s wealthiest families. This medal commemorates a 1963 visit by the poet Robert Frost … and one must wonder if he saw there any beauties vaguely reminiscent to the one.
21) Americans seem to have been more into art deco than art nouveau, but nice items rendered under the latter influence can be found. One of my favorites is Chester French’s 1917 bronze medal commemorating the inauguration of the Catskill Aqueduct.
22) Another exquisite example is this lovely medallion rendered by Adolph Alexander Weinman for the New York Women’s League for Animals in 1930. Perhaps their fundraising campaign slogan for that year should have been “Buy medals of furry animals, not fur coats!”
23) Art nouveau can even make something as unappealing as a coal mine mighty attractive, as can be seen with this turn-of-the-century silver French medal by Peynot for the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Saint Etienne.
24) Art nouveau was a wonderful mode for expressing hope for the future. WWI would destroy that fine sensibility of the world becoming an ever-better and more utopian place. This Swedish medal by Erik Lindberg commemorating a 1914 Baltic Exhibition in Malmö is an ironic reminder of those hoped-for better days.
25) War is another common medallic theme and I’ve shown many of them before. One of this year’s additions is this dynamic 1980 Soviet Union bronze medal by A. Koroluk commemorating the 1380 victory of the Russians over the Tartars & Mongols at Kulikovo.
26) That’s the glory of war, but the flip side of the human experience of war is often ignominy. French medallist Max Blondat expertly captures a theme by his contemporary, the French Realist/Impressionist painter and lithographer Jean-Louis Forain (who, ironically, was mostly a comedic artist), in this 1914 bronze plaque struck for contributors to a clothing drive for French WWI POWs.
27) Naturally, patriotic themes were popular during WWI and Emile André Boisseau’s 1915 bronze plaque entitled “La Defense du Foyer” (“Defense of the Frontier”) captures well the offended Gallic sensibilities over the German occupation of their territory.
28) Female medallists were uncommon at this time, but French artist Marcelle Croce-Lancelot poignantly captures the cost of war in this extremely rare undated bronze plaque struck in 1918.
29) Of course, peace is better than war and deserves to be celebrated. Belgian Joseph Witterwulghe captures the spirit of peace well in this silvered bronze WWI Peace Medal struck in 1919.
30) And now for the pièce de résistance! A masterful but unknown European artist created this huge 275mm-diameter red copper plate in the 19th century. Rendered in ancient Greek-influenced Renaissance style, it portrays the War of the Sabine Women. The main figure in the second detail image is Hercules.
Merry Christmas!!!
1) This lovely bronze French plaque of the Madonna & Child is, as betides Christmas, bittersweet. It is actually a death plaque, commemorating the demise of “DNS Ioannes Le Vasseva”, and dates from 1925. I cannot make out the artist’s mark, but I believe it is the product of one of the Dubois family, but I cannot tell which.
2) This anonymous silver 1897 German medal of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus is, appropriately enough, a baptismal medal.
3) This may be my very oldest medal; the seller thought it dated ca. AD 800-1400, but I suspect it’s more likely 1400-1700, perhaps from the Renaissance era. It is hand-engraved and resembles the “woodworking style” of the Germans, so it may be of that provenance. It appears to be made of silver, although not of high purity.
4) A most unusual bas-relief bronze plaquette, this exquisite Pentecost plaque is also hand-engraved and framed. It is probably North Italian or German and I suspect dates to the late 18th or early 19th century, and possibly earlier.
5) This gorgeous bronze Portuguese medallion (89mm) by Jorge Coelho was struck in 1985 to commemorate the Our Lady of Hope Convent on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. The design on the reverse is marvelous. Moreover, it holds a special meaning for me since I lived on the island of Terçeira in the Azores as a boy.
6) Émile Dropsy created this French masterpiece known as “Regina Cœli” (“Queen of Heaven”). This uniface bronze plaque honors Mary, the Mother of God, but appears intended as an award medal perhaps.
7) Georges Simon captures the beauty of the universe with this spectacular view of the galaxy in his 1967 blackened bronze medallion for the tricentennial of the Paris Observatory.
8) One of the most intriguing aspects of medallic art is that it so often focuses on portraying living beings on cold metal while somehow bringing a sense of the warmth of life to the metallic rendition. Belgian artist Laurent Joseph Hart captures the “human warmth” well in this 1840 bronze medal issued by the Belgian Royal Society of Science, Arts and Letters to commemorate the dedication of a monument in Antwerp to the famous Flemish baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens.
9) This large (107x133mm) medal/plaque was struck ca. 1920 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Italian Renaissance painter Raphael. This anonymous Italian medal pairs him with his beloved wife Fornarina. (For more of Fornarina's charms, check out his painting of her [ca. 1516-19] known as "La Fornarina".) This oval portrait medal is quite unusual in that it is made of bronzed white metal. (Due to some inspired good fortune, I have the Dante & Beatrice companion to this coming to me after Christmas.
I've attached a pic here.)10) French medallist Claude Lesot captured another famous artist, German Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger, in this intriguing, two-toned bronze medal in 1965. The younger Holbein became the court painter for King Henry VIII and died in London in 1543, a victim of the plague.
11) Death is a most human tragedy and often makes its way onto medals. One of the most famous of these is Louis-Oscar Roty’s funeral plaque for French President Sadi Carnot, who died in 1894. Marie François Sadi Carnot was an oddity among politicians – he was greatly respected for his integrity. He was deeply mourned by the French people when he was assassinated by an Italian anarchist named Sante Jeronimo Caserio. This tragedy aroused widespread horror and grief, and the president was honored with an elaborate funeral ceremony in the Pantheon, Paris – which is captured allegorically by this bronze plaque.
12) Naturally, death is not the only way to make one’s way onto a medal, as is witnessed by this 1931 bronze medal by the American artist Frederick MacMonnies commemorating Charles Lindbergh, the famous “Lone Eagle.” The American Society of Medallists had only begun their annual issues of pairs of medals by American artists the year before, so this MacMonnies medal has the distinction of being SoM #4. The reverse bears an allegory of the elements attacking the Lone Eagle: a crowned, skeletal Death, a naked female Fury representing Lightning & Thunder, and a demonic Wind.
13) A popular series theme in the early 20th century was that of capturing the traditional regional costumes, the wearing of which was beginning to fade as dingy industrialization set in. The famous French medallist Georges Henri Prud’homme initiated such a series at the end of WWI, including this lovely one of a woman in Alsatian dress. (Reverse with stork nest added for Stork.
)14) Even more popular than Prud’homme’s series, though, was that by the well-known Frenchwoman Ernesta Robert-Mérignac. My favorite of her series is this bronze plaque of a woman of the Vendee (a western maritime province) in native costume. The “Vendéene” plaque’s reverse presents a typical Calvaire of the western French provinces.
15) “Pastorals” were another favorite form of medal among Europeans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the most famous of these was Georges Dupré’s “L’Angelus” plaquette, struck in 1900.
16) “Pastorals” were mostly, but not solely, bucolic. Belgian Godefroid Devreese’s undated gilt silver “Pastorale - Ballets Russes” plaquette is a fine – and rare – example which shows off art nouveau’s tradition of not being constrained simply to coin-like medallic forms.
17) Most often, art nouveau and art deco medals employ allegorical motifs involving personifications of virtues or national spirits or mythological characters. Here, French medallist Louis Desvignes conveys the sense of “Charité” in this sympathetic 1911 bronze medal.
18) Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis was noted for his playful style, as illustrated by his famous “Le Nid” (“The Nest”) plaque.
19) More dramatic is this bronze Belgian medal by Geerts for an Intl. Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology Congress in Brussels in 1872. If you’ve seen what archaeologists of that time imagined dinosaurs looked like, you’ll agree that there is far more “anatomical correctness” on this medal.
20) In the US, Amherst College’s Sabrina Society was noted for inviting literati to appear for the educational benefit of the daughters of America’s wealthiest families. This medal commemorates a 1963 visit by the poet Robert Frost … and one must wonder if he saw there any beauties vaguely reminiscent to the one.
21) Americans seem to have been more into art deco than art nouveau, but nice items rendered under the latter influence can be found. One of my favorites is Chester French’s 1917 bronze medal commemorating the inauguration of the Catskill Aqueduct.
22) Another exquisite example is this lovely medallion rendered by Adolph Alexander Weinman for the New York Women’s League for Animals in 1930. Perhaps their fundraising campaign slogan for that year should have been “Buy medals of furry animals, not fur coats!”
23) Art nouveau can even make something as unappealing as a coal mine mighty attractive, as can be seen with this turn-of-the-century silver French medal by Peynot for the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Saint Etienne.
24) Art nouveau was a wonderful mode for expressing hope for the future. WWI would destroy that fine sensibility of the world becoming an ever-better and more utopian place. This Swedish medal by Erik Lindberg commemorating a 1914 Baltic Exhibition in Malmö is an ironic reminder of those hoped-for better days.
25) War is another common medallic theme and I’ve shown many of them before. One of this year’s additions is this dynamic 1980 Soviet Union bronze medal by A. Koroluk commemorating the 1380 victory of the Russians over the Tartars & Mongols at Kulikovo.
26) That’s the glory of war, but the flip side of the human experience of war is often ignominy. French medallist Max Blondat expertly captures a theme by his contemporary, the French Realist/Impressionist painter and lithographer Jean-Louis Forain (who, ironically, was mostly a comedic artist), in this 1914 bronze plaque struck for contributors to a clothing drive for French WWI POWs.
27) Naturally, patriotic themes were popular during WWI and Emile André Boisseau’s 1915 bronze plaque entitled “La Defense du Foyer” (“Defense of the Frontier”) captures well the offended Gallic sensibilities over the German occupation of their territory.
28) Female medallists were uncommon at this time, but French artist Marcelle Croce-Lancelot poignantly captures the cost of war in this extremely rare undated bronze plaque struck in 1918.
29) Of course, peace is better than war and deserves to be celebrated. Belgian Joseph Witterwulghe captures the spirit of peace well in this silvered bronze WWI Peace Medal struck in 1919.
30) And now for the pièce de résistance! A masterful but unknown European artist created this huge 275mm-diameter red copper plate in the 19th century. Rendered in ancient Greek-influenced Renaissance style, it portrays the War of the Sabine Women. The main figure in the second detail image is Hercules.
Merry Christmas!!!
Askari
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
0
Comments
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
karlgoetzmedals.com
secessionistmedals.com
#12 is way cool and so is the LIon on #29. The last one must be awesome in person.
09/07/2006
Thank you for sharing them.
Dan
Total Copper Nutcase - African, British Ships, Channel Islands!!!
'Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup'
Steve
Shep
What an amazing group of medals...this thread will definitely require several visits to appreciate it fully. Should there be a poll, I'd vote for #28 as my favorite.
But, isn't there a nice bird on the back of the Alsace medal
Cathy
It's going to take a couple of visits to this thread to take it all in. Well done, Mr. Askari.
Clankeye
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
I especially like #10 by Lescot and #25 by Koroluk.
eBay Store
DPOTD Jan 2005, Meet the Darksiders
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
It's also fun to see who likes which medals best. Moreso than coin collecting, collecting medallic art is a matter of personal taste. There's also so much more to discover (like the stork nest on the rev. of the Alsace plaque which Stork alluded to and I have now added), especially since so little is published.
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
DPOTD
Since I still prefer my medals to be round my favorites are 2, 7 and 8 though all would have a place of honor in my small collection.
The depiction of the Belgian Lion tearing apart the German eagle is an interesting choice of motif on the peace medal (#29).
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
Your choice of comments was another highlight of this wonderful show. Thanks for sharing.
DPOTD-1
Thank you for sharing.
Happy Holidays,
dealmakr
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
Joel 3:10
“The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” -Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas
“We Are All Socialists Now" - Feb 16, 2009 cover of Newsweek Magazine
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
Beautiful stuff, Askari! Thanks for taking the time to show it.
<< <i>28) Female medallists were uncommon at this time, but French artist Marcelle Croce-Lancelot poignantly captures the cost of war in this extremely rare undated bronze plaque struck in 1918. >>
Having gone back and looked at them all a few times, I find I am drawn to this one.
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
Number 30 is awesome!!!
It'll take me days to clean the drool off my keyboard.
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!
Collecting Penguins, Named Ship Coins and other assorted goodies
Looking for Circulated coins of Papua New Guinea
stores.ebay.com/Grumpy's-Cave
FOR SALE Items
My favorites are 25 & 26.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media" - William Colby, former CIA director
What wonderful examples of medallic art! Not only are the images spectacular, but the narrative added so much more to the experience. I too am saving it in "My Favorites" fo futher viewing. Thank you for sharing1
My Website
"Everything I have is for sale except for my wife and my dog....and I'm not sure about one of them."
Come on over ... to The Dark Side!