Medallic Art Company

This plaquette bears portrait of Smith facing right; ivy ranks framing window behind him. At top, VERITAS; below window frame, BOSTON / 1915; at bottom THEOBALD SMITH

Theobald Smith (1859-1934) was a pioneering epidemiologist and pathologist and is widely considered to be America's first internationally significant medical research scientist. In 1895 Smith moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to accept a dual appointment: serve as professor of comparative pathology at Harvard University, and direct the pathology lab at the Massachusetts State Board of Health. Smith joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research as Director of the Department of Animal Pathology in 1915 and remained there until his retirement in 1929.

This plaquette was commissioned by Harvard University to commemorate Smith's departure after 20 years as a professor. 

My copy comes framed and I did not have the heart to take the assembly appart to take a stand-alone picture. If someone has a good picture to share, I would appreciate it.

The plaquette measures 51mm x 73mm and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.  No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1915-015, Marqusee 324

The medal's obverse bears head of Arabian horse, facing left, stylized moon sickle behind. Around, 1908 · ARABIAN · HORSE · CLUB · OF · AMERICA ·

The reverse bears streamer running in zig zag down height and width of medal. On streamer, AWARDED / IN · CLASS / (empty) / HORSE SHOW / (empty) / (empty)

The Arabian Horse Club of America was established in 1908 in New York.  The founding members were Henry K. Bush-Brown, Homer Davenport, Charles A. Voetsch, Francis A. Huck, and James B. Kilburn. You might notice that one of the founders was Bush-Brown who also designed the medal!

Today, the club is incorporated under the name of Arabian Horse Registry of America, Inc, and in 2002 had 27,500 associate members.

The history of Arabian horses in America is quite interesting. After his second term as U.S. President, Ulysses S. Grant traveled the world. In 1877 he visited Sultan Abdul Hamid II in Turkey and, well-known as an admirer of horses, was gifted two Arab stallions by the sultan. One of the two eventually ended up in America and, together with another stallion and two mares can be considered the first purebred Arabian breeding program in the U.S. 

The second important influence is tied to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. The Turkish exhibition included 45 purebreds.  The mare Nedjme and the stallion Obeyran stayed in the U.S. and became horses #1 and #2 in the Arabian Horse stud book.

The circular medal measures 50.6mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1916-002

The plaquette's obverse bears Robert Louis Stevenson, standing, facing slight left. Across, HERE DWELT / ROBERT-LOUIS-STEVENSON / DURING THE WINTER 1887-1888 / -.- / "I was walking in the verandah / of a small house outside the / hamlet of Saranac. It was / winter; the night was very / dark; the air clear and cold / and sweet woth the purity / of forests. For the making / of a story here were fine / conditions. / "COME' SAID I / TO MY ENGINE, 'LET US / MAKE A TALE.'" / The Gensis of Ballantrae / -.- / Here he wrote "The Master / of Ballantrae," "A Christmas Sermon," "The Lantern Bearers," "Pulvis at Umbra." / "Beggars" "Gentlemen" "A Chapter on Dreams"  Two conjoined wreaths with birth 1850 and death year 1894 inscribed. Signed at bottom right, Gutzon Borglum / 1916

The reverse just bears three lines of legend, THE STEVENSON SOCIETY, / OF AMERICA INC. / SARANAC LAKE, N.Y.

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850–1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses.

The rectangular plaquette measures 60.1mm x 95.9mm ans was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1916-003

References:   MACo 1916-005

References:   MACo 1916-006

The medal's obverse bears figure of nude, lighlty covered young man facing left, standing with one foot on rock, one arm holding cloth behind his back, bent over book held in other hand; small Pegasus in exergue. At left, MENS / FER- / VIDA IN / CORPORE / LACERT- / OSO · ; signed and dated at right, (RTM monogram) / 1916

The reverse bears wreath decorated with coats of arms of participating universities. In center field on banner, To / SHELDON J MANN / FOR SCHOLARSHIP / AND ATHLETIC / PROWESS; (ICAA logo of interlocking letters)

The Intercollegiate Athletic Association grew out of the National Football Conference, acknowledging that there was a need to counter the rising commercialization and brutality of intercollegiate sports.  In 1905 alone there were 18 deaths and over 100 major injuries in collegiate football matches.  In 1905 a vote of the National Conference authorized the formation of a new national group and on March 31st, 1906, a constitution and by-laws were approved with sixty-two colleges as founding members. Its mission was to formulate rules that would apply to intercollegiate athletic competition in all sports.  In 1910 the ICAA was renamed the NCAA.

The medal was awarded to Sheldon Jenks Mann (1896-1968), a student of dentistry at Ohio State University. He was also a member of the dental honor fraternity Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

The Latin phrase translates roughly to "a passionate mind in a well-trained body" and is a variation of the more common "mens sana in corpore sano" or "a healthy mind in a healthy body," which was regarded as a mere recommendation for hygiene and did not seem to capture the fighting spirit of athletic competition enough. 

The circular medal measures 76.4mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.  No mintage is reported but it was only awarded for nine years, so there should not be too many.

References:   MACo 1916-008

The medal's obverse bears allegorical robed female figure representing the United States holding torch of Liberty in one hand and resting the other on shoulder of nude girl representing Indian; at right top, house with steeple and tree; underneath, THE ADMISSION / OF INDIANA / TO THE UNION; all surrounded by wreath. Signed at lower left, JANET SCUDDER ©

The reverse bears nature scene with bison and forest worker swinging axe; large sun with radiant beams rising above horizon. Around, INDIANA / 1816 (star) 1916

The circular medal measures 63.4mm in diameter and was struck in bronze and gold-plated bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The mintage is reported as 918 numbered proofs. I am not certain whether this count includes the gold-plated peices or not.

Many thanks to the staff of the Yale University Art Gallery for their support and assistance and making this medal available to me for research.

References:   Baxter 192, MACo 1916-011

The medal's obverse bears kneeling semi-nude female figure facing left, holding goddess of victory in one hand, lyre in the other. Around, · ST · PAUL ·  - · INSTITUTE · ; signed in exergue, P · MANSHIP

The reverse bears winged steed in flight over large sun; wreath around bottom.

Paul Manship attended the St. Paul School of Art, which was later renamed to Saint Paul Institute of Arts and Sciences. I guess this medal was a thank you to his alma mater where his lifelong passion for sculpture was first kindled.

The medal's reverse is very reminiscent of the Art Directors' Club medal's obverse.

The circular medal measures 53.6mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   Baxter 364, MACo 1916-012-01, Murtha 76

References:   MACo 1916-014

The obverse bears a female head (alternatively representing Greater New York or Columbia) crowned with laurel in high relief, facing right.

The reverse depicts a full figure of nude male facing left, standing erect, pouring water from classic vase resting on his shoulder. On Left and right, TO COMMEMORATE - THE COMPLETION / OF THE CATSKILL - AQUEDUCT / AN ACHIEVEMENT - OF CIVIC SPIRIT / SCIENTIFIC GENIUS - AND FAITHFUL LABOR / 1905 NEW - YORK 1917

This is the 35th official issue of the American Numismatic Society.

This medal was authorized by the Medal subcommittee of the Mayor's Catskill Aqueduct Celebration Committee and issued by the American Numismatic Society (ANS).

Daniel Chester French won this commission through his acquaintance with Robert de Forest, with whom he served on the board of trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and who also was the president of the Mayor's Catskill Aqueduct Celebration Committee. The committee was convened to organize the celebrations in honor of the completion of the massive Catskill Aqueduct project. Construction had started twelve years earlier in 1905. By 1917 a 163-mile long system of tunnels and pipes had been completed to transport water from the Catskill Mountains to New York City.

Although the medal is commonly credited to Daniel Chester French, the reverse was actually designed by both French and Augustus Lukeman.

In 1933, Clyde Curlee Trees, the President of Medallic Art Company chose French's beautiful female head as the symbol of his company and obviously gained permission to use the design in many different ways. The head became not only the company logo but also appeared on bronze replica medals that were struck in an unknown quantity. As late as 1979 the Medallic Art Company issued gold-plated struck bronzes in the small diameter.

The original medals measured 76mm in diameter and were cast by the Medallic Art Company in a quantity of 57 bronze and 23 silver pieces. 13 of the silver pieces were supposedly disposed of but other sources report that 12 silver pieces survived.

Later, an unknown number of the smaller 38mm diameter brones were struck by the Medallic Art Company.

References:   ANS 35, Baxter 245, MACo 1917-007, Marqusee 177