Home World & Ancient Coins Forum
Options

LUDWIG GIES: WWI Kunstmedaillen

"ANDENKEN A.D. WELTKRIEG" 1915, cast bronze, 47 X 43.8mm. Unique

Obverse: War damaged refugee family of mother, father, and five children including the cat and birdcage all congregated around the brick cooking stove.

Reverse: German Picklehaube over an empty writing board adorned with an evergreen garland. Written below is ‘Andenken A.D. Weltkrieg’ (Memory to the World War).

There are only three of these pieces in existence. Ernsting has recorded an iron and a silver-plated bronze example in his reference book. This piece, in bronze, was only speculated as existing and was ‘not proven’ at the time of publication.

image

Comments

  • Options
    Spiffy469Spiffy469 Posts: 661 ✭✭
    neat

    Jeff
    I collect bits and pieces of everything
    or should I say I ACCUMULATE!
    I also dabble with the darkside image

    Ive recently gotten more into currency, especially modern star notes
  • Options
    Nice heart shape! image
    List of my partial coin list: My Coin List
  • Options
    UdoUdo Posts: 984 ✭✭
    image UNIQUE !!! image
    imageimage
  • Options
    cachemancacheman Posts: 3,113 ✭✭✭


    << <i>image UNIQUE !!! image >>



    Well that's what I get from the Ernsting book but then again, it is written in German so I could be mistaken. I do have several other Gies pieces where the variety is unique also...

    If someone were to offer to translate, hint...hint, I could scan and send the listing from Ernsting...imageimage
  • Options
    UdoUdo Posts: 984 ✭✭
    Don't beat around the bush, Scott, you know where to send it image
    imageimage
  • Options
    lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,218 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Obverse: War damaged refugee family of mother, father, and five children including the cat and birdcage all congregated around the brick cooking stove. >>

    Also note the father's backpack, in which he is carrying a large octopus that is trying to escape.

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • Options
    cachemancacheman Posts: 3,113 ✭✭✭
    Thank you Udo for the following translation from the Ernsting Reference book: image

    They originated under the impression of the events of first Great War years in the east of the Empire when Russian troops occupied East Prussia and were fought back in February 1915. Gies‘ artistic reaction dealt, (except the similar to WVZ 108 political examples), with the escape and suffering of the civil population. Stylistically, developments and occasional dates (1914, 1915) point to the origin within the first half of the year 1915 and refer very little to actual historical events at that time.

    WVZ 112 – 1915
    In memory of the world war (displaced)
    Iron, two-sided cast, mounted, unchased
    47:44 mm (heart-shaped with upper appendage)
    signed, undated

    Obverse:
    Lightly convex field with multiple stepped, raised edge and lower segment; motif and lettering plastically raised. In the middle a cooker with ruinous, yet smoking chimney; on the right a young female with long hair, holding a swaddled baby, to the left of her two children sitting on the cookers brink, to her feet right a little girl and left a cat arching its back). On the left an old bearded man, a little child holding his left hand with both her hands. Signed in the segment with L*G.

    Reverse:
    Lightly convex field with multiple stepped, raised edge and lower segment; motif and lettering plastically raised. A craned quadrate, empty tablet, above a German Pickelhaube, the chinstrap entwined with a wreath, a garland of leaves lying across the tablet’s corners. Inside the garland-semicircle:
    ANDENKEN A. * D.WELTKRIEG
    Nachweis: Privatbesitz (1 Exemplar) This means: There is currently 1 piece known to the author, in private property.

    The present example (the depicted one in Ernsting) is an imperfect, unchased cast with non-drilled mounting. The example of the collection Frankenhuis in Ramat Aviv, Kadman Numismatic Museum is no longer there (most probably lost). The depiction in Wolf (Wolf 1915, Kriegs und Trauerschmuck) shows a chased example with drilled mounting and fixed loop.

    WVZ 112 a (Yours)- 1915
    Same as WVZ 112
    Bronze or silver, probably two-sided cast,
    mounting with loop, measure not known
    (probably ca. 47:44 mm, with upper appendage)
    signed, undated
    Ernstings only information on this piece is referring to a book/reference, or perhaps an advertising brochure by: Gies, “Kriegsmedaillen und Schmuckstücke”, die Plastik 6, München 1916, war-medals and pieces of jewelry, bronze and silver, (chapter) the sculpture 6, Munich 1916
    Anhängsel „Flüchtlinge“: Silber
    Pendant „refugees“: silver
    Obviously in that reference this piece, in silver, was depicted (obverse only) and Ernsting used this depiction for the current reference also. Further he states: “Kein Exemplar in Bronze oder Silber nachgewiesen” So he never identified one of these (except the silver one depicted in the 1916 reference) and didn’t know if it existed. It obviously does as it is now in your collection.
  • Options
    image
    Bill

    image

    09/07/2006
  • Options
    theboz11theboz11 Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭
    Unique is always specialimage
  • Options
    Man, that is WILD...image
    100% DAV, Been There and Done That!
    166 BHDs & 154 Die Varieties & Die States...
    Bust Half Nut Club #180

    Festivus Yes! Bagels No!
    image
  • Options
    Interesting that it dates to 1915. The "Memory to the World War"/Picklehaube type of sentimentalism was rampent in the post war 1922-25 era.
    "It is good for the state that the people do not think."

    Adolf Hitler
  • Options
    PreussenPreussen Posts: 2,307 ✭✭✭
    image - Preussen
    "Illegitimis non carborundum" -General Joseph Stilwell. See my auctions
  • Options
    StorkStork Posts: 5,205 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wowsers!image

  • Options
    cachemancacheman Posts: 3,113 ✭✭✭
    Here is another similar unique Gies piece (Ernsting WVZ 117a)...

    image
Sign In or Register to comment.