GOETZ: K262 Extreme Black Shame Variety

cacheman

Goetz created this medal in four flavors and my theory is that he created K262 first and then was asked to "tone it down" a bit by a prospective buyer at which time he concealed the phallus by adding groundcover and roots to the base and created a limb with leaves to thinly imply it was a tree in K262(a). This change undoubtedly secured several sales but probably not many as evidenced by the rarity of the variety.

K.263 steps up the vitriol by swapping out the phallus for a kiosk with an inscription "To the scorn of the German Woman" in it's place. A baby, with obvious 'black' facial features, lies beneath the post.

Finally, K.264 (see last image) knocks the vitriol up the final notch showing the reverse inscription in doubled letters to indicate a long and anguished scream. You'll note that the Lorelei has doubling of her hands and legs to indicate her struggle against the symbolic phallus. Even Goetz' initials are doubled! This is by far the most rare of this series and I have only seen this medal previously in the Kienast book. Apparently ANS has one in their collection but even the nearly complete Boettcher collection sold via Moeller several years ago didn't have an example of this medal.

This fills a large hole in my collection.

K262


K262(a)


K263


K264

oldshep

Scott - your collection continues to amaze me. Thanks for sharing!!

Shep

coinpictures

<< <i>You'll note that the Lorelei has doubling of her hands and legs to indicate her struggle against the symbolic phallus. >>



Are you sure this was the intent? Looking at the reverse, it's not just doubling of Lorelei's hands and legs, but literally everything on the back is doubled in some form, including the plow, the eye in the sky, and the helmet on the phallus. Is it possible the doubling was intended to imply tremors or instability? That's a vehicle that cartoonists often use to convey things shaking.

Just another take...

cacheman

Could be....I'm only going by what previous researchers have written. Without written descriptions from Goetz himself, which none exists, we can only assume what a medal means...just like any other art.

1jester

I also get the feeling that the doubling might imply trembling or shaking, either from the horror of the situation or perhaps the lady's masochistic inclinations...

Nice set you got there Scott!

cacheman

Well this is one theory that can be carried forward...when my website is eventually up, I'll have a venue to discuss each medal and its iconography. I believe these discussions will help to formulate far more accurate descriptions of the medals. I have seen many other misinterpretated pieces so I wouldn't be surprised by many more, particularly with regard to Goetz' WWI & WWII medals.

Hussulo

Nice collection. It's interesting to see the different varieties.