March 2010
Next club meeting Monday 12th April 2010.
Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church ,Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.
March meeting.
Modern Art medals became more prolific approximately 100-120 years ago, primarily due to the introduction of reducing machines. Originally, these medals were used as a reward or for bullion purposes, however the reduced cost wit ht reducing machine meant that these were opened to the middle classes.
One of the first examples of these was JC Chaplin’s medal for the 1900 Exposition Universelle et Internationale
in Paris. The obverse of this 2.5 inch, 3.5 ounce medal shows the profile of Marianne (right) under an oak tree,
wearing an oak wreath, which has been cleverly interwoven as a branch of the tree. The reverse shows an airborne
Victory, carrying the ‘winner’ over Paris with a torch. The recipient’s name is below.
Other beautiful examples are Oscar Roty’s ‘Sempar’ engagement medal, which shows a show-to-be-engaged couple sitting amongst the flowers on a hillside, and Bertram Mackennal’s 1908 Olympic Participation medal showing winged Fame standing on globe holding palm branch and horn on the obverse with the winner in quadriga (trap drawn by four horses) dashing left.
Art medals were also used as satirical propaganda material. A prime example of this is Karl Goetz ‘Sinking of the Lusitania’. This highly controversial medal showed on the obverse the Lusitania slipping beneath the waves stern first (opposite to what really happened) and with obvious war contraband on her deck: cannon, war planes, armaments, with the admonishment above "No Contraband Goods!". Below, in exergue, the German equivalent of, "The liner Lusitania sunk by a German submarine May 5, 1915." (This is Goetz' first obverse which bore the incorrect date of 5 Mai (the German spelling), an error he later attributed to an flawed newspaper account. And that error is what made this such a controversial piece as it suggested that the Germans had prior knowledge of the sinking!). The Reverse shows a skeleton (representing death) selling passage at the Cunard Line ticket office. Along the top of the medal are the German words for "Business Above All" mocking the Cunard Line for willingly placing passenger's lives at stake. At left is a man reading a paper on which are the German words for "U-Boat danger", while behind him is the figure of the German ambassador, Count Johann-Heinrich von Bernstorff, raising a wagging finger as a reminder that the Germans had placed a warning advertisement in the same newspaper as the Cunard Lines sailing schedule. This was jumped on by the British Government and mass produced and distributed with a flyer suggesting that picture seeks to propound the theory that if a murderer warns his victim of his intention, the guilt of the crime will rest with the victim, not with the murderer.
Medals were also used to commemorate special events such as the launch of the Queen Mary (1935, Gilbert Bayes). This attractive medal has the Queen Mary under steam on the obverse, and a view of the New York skyline seen through the old Bargate of Southampton with the Cunard White Star shield on the reverse.
Roger Bezcombes medal ‘Janus’ shows a mask of a moustachioed man with curly beard and hair, with two pairs of glass eyes, one embedded in his forehead, and a reverse of a woman’s face with two glass eyes for earrings. This medal is cast in bronze, is approximately an inch thick, and weighs up to 1.1 kilograms (2lb 6oz)!
There are also examples of medals which come in more than one piece, including Kauko Rasanen’s ‘Leonardo da Vinci’, a 3-piece cast bronze medal, and Miriam Mieras’ piece comprising of a shoe-polish style tin, containing a glass ‘lens’ medal and a photo of the moon on one side, and a mouse of the other.
The last (and first!) piece that we were shown was Marian Fountain’s ‘Friends of Birmingham Museum’ 75th Anniversary medal showing a group of people peering into the centre where the Museum curator is studying a new piece.
The twenty-two members in attendance showed their appreciation in the usual manner, and a lively Q&A session followed. We thank Francis for a most interesting talk.
Spring social / Skittles Evening
This will once again be a skittles evening at the Red Lion pub, Theale on Saturday 24th April. We intend to start gathering around 7pm for an 8pm kick off.
Future Events.
Past Events