Paul Manship

This medal is the eleventh issue in the prestigious and highly collectible Circle of Friends of the Medallion series.

The medal's obverse bears a figure representing New York, seated on a throne, holding burning torch in one hand, skyscraper in other. Around, TERCENTENARY / NEW YORK / 1914.

The reverse depicts the ship New Netherland which brought the first settlers to New Amsterdam in 1623, flanked by Dutchman with musket and Native American with bow and peace pipe; beaver below. Around, NEW NETHERLAND FOUNDED / 1614.

The circular medal measures 70mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Davison of Philadelphia.

References:   Baxter 361, CoF 11, Marqusee 253

The obverse bears bust of Kaiser Wilhelm II with necklace of skulls and iron cross; rifle with bayonett to left. Around, THE FOE OF FREE PEOPLES; below, HIS / ROSARY.

The reverse bears German soldier abducting helpless Belgian woman, callously stepping over child on ground. Around, KULTUR IN BELGIUM; below, MURDER PILLAGE.

The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y.

This medal was clearly a response to German artist Karl Goetz' satirical war medals which depicted the allied side in a bad light. Goetz' medals were reviled by the Allies and caused a huge backlash, particularly his infamous Lusitania medal. Artistically, Goetz was on the leading edge of realism while French, British, and American sculptors were still depicting war in terms of carefully crafted Art Nouveau imagery, the horror of war often represented by an angel of death, a weeping widow or a cemetery.

Manship obviously decided that Goetz' medals deserved retaliation in kind. His medal is a true masterpiece of propaganda art, yet it was received with some ambivalence. The June, 1918 issue of the American Magazine of Arts reported:

"In some of the shop windows on Fifth Avenue, New York, is now to be seen a bronze medal designed and executed by Paul Manship representing the outrages perpetrated by the German army upon women and children in invaded territory, particularly in Belgium. This is offered for sale at $10.00 a piece and puts into permanent form those things which if possible should not be remembered, but if remembered not visualized."

The medal measures 66.2mm (2 5/8in) in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   Baxter 365, MACo 1918-005, Murtha 103

The obverse bears bust of Robert P. Perkins in Red Cross uniform, facing left. Around, · ROBERT · P · PERKINS · - · ROMA · MCMXVIII ·

The reverse bears group of mother and three children in center. Around, (cross) AMERICAN (cross) RED (cross) CROSS (cross) IN (cross) ITALY (cross); below, CARITAS; signed above group, · P · M ·

Robert P. Perkins (1862-1924) was president of the Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Company and served as the American Red Cross commissioner in Italy during World War I.

Manship also served in the Red Cross in Italy but nearly died from pneumonia brought on by dreadful weather and a major bout of influenza. He was sent to a hospital in Padua and when he was finally well enough to travel, to Rome, where he stayed at the Grand Hotel, the only one in the city with heat. Manship got to know Perkins while recuperating in Rome.

With this design Manship expressed his gratitude to Perkins and the Red Cross, but also his compassion for the fatherless families left behind in war-torn Europe. The images do not do justice to this medallion's massive presence. The bust rises another 11mm over an already thick base for a total height of 20mm; a typical electronic coin scale will capitulate before the medallion's weight.

This medallion probably represents an early cast of Manship's design and is likely unique. It was most likely cast from his preliminary plaster after he returned to the States. It is larger than the 105mm medallion and differs from that version in legend and signature placement.

The medallion measures 112mm in diameter and was cast in bronze by the artist. It is probably a unique specimen and one of the prize pieces in any collection of 20th Century American Medallic Art.

The plaquette bears sword-wielding goddess of victory striding left, facing right; behind her, eagle swooping towards left edge where sun is rising. Around top, on scroll, VICTORY; at bottom, ART / WAR / RELIEF

Paul Manship was a fierce patriot and supporter of the Red Cross' humanitarian efforts in Europe. On the U.S. homefront, he was a member of auxiliary 282 of the New York Chapter of the Red Cross, also called "Art War Relief."  That group assisted the war effort by raising funds via the sale of donated art, by creating special patriotic art, and by painting landscape targets for the training of artillery personnel.

Manship's plaquette is a beautiful example of art -deco bas-relief. It usually comes mounted on a black bakelit base and can be found in original bronze or patinated green variants.  It is part of many museum collections world-wide.

The plaquette itself measures 60mm by 76mm and is made of bronze. No mintage is reported.

References:   Baxter 368

The obverse bears a winged female figure representing Victory striding forward to the left, holding a sword wrapped in a palm leaf; a radiant sun in the background. Around: VIXIT - VIVIT - VIVET (Lived, Conquered, Shall Live).

The reverse bears a scroll with fasces behind at center, inscribed: IN MEMORY/ OF ONE WHO/ DIED IN THE/ CAUSE OF/ FREEDOM AND/ HUMANITY. Above, an eagle holding a laurel wreath perches atop the end of a cannon and ball. Around: PRESENTED BY THE CITY OF DETROIT - 1919.

The Society of Arts and Crafts, Detroit, issued memorial medals in 1919 that were given by the City of Detroit to the families of men who lost their lives in the Great War.

An earlier version of this medal, with a less evolved obverse design, is in the Smithsonian Art Museum Collection.

The circular medal measures 70mm in diameter. The Medallic Art Company of New York struck 900 pieces in bronze.

References:   MACo 1919-011

The obverse bears Art Deco image of Bellerophon with lyre riding winged pegasus above sun. Around, ART DIRECTORS CLUB / INCORPORATED 1920.

The reverse bears painter with palette and brush in center. Around center, AWARDED FOR SPECIAL MERIT. Around edge, laurel wreath with (PM monogram) at bottom.

The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y.

Louis Pedlar founded the Art Directors' Club of New York in 1920 in response to the uncertain relationship between advertising art and fine art. Pedlar assembled a group of art buyers, art department managers and layout artists to ponder whether advertising art could be judged by the same stringent standards as fine art.

Obviously the answer was "yes" because Paul Manship was asked to create a medal to be used as an award. Awards were given annually in the areas of black-and-white illustration, color illustration, oil painting, and poster art, though not always in all areas.

An article published in Printers' Ink Monthly outlines the process that was used:

"All mediums were given consideration; black-and-white, flat color, oil painting and decorative design. A rigid standard of selection was enforced, and the 300 pictures shown, selected from many thousands submitted, represented the best there is in advertiding design.

Both the organization and the award still exist but the medal was replaced by a modern cube in the 1970's.

The medal measures 54mm (2 1/8in) in diameter and were manufactured by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   MACo 1921-07, Murtha 139

This medal was chosen as the 2nd issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series. The obverse bears a grape-crowned, bearded god of wine over shallow, two-handled kylix. Around, in two lines, HAIL - TO - DIONYSUS - WHO - FIRST - DISCOVERED / THE - MAGIC - OF - THE - GRAPE. The reverse bears youthful satyrs trampling grapes. Below, signed © / .P.MANSHIP 1930.

Manship's medal proved to be highly controversial and thus provided much needed publicity for the still young Society of Medalists. America was still nominally observing Prohibition and at least one member is reported to have resigned over this "glorification of wine."

The medal measures 73mm in diameter. The Medallic Art Company of New York struck a reported 1,950 medals in bronze and 50 in silver.

References:   MACo 1930-001-002, Marqusee 256, Murtha 265, SoM 2

The obverse bears running locomotive with figure of Mercury flying overhead and carrying tray with fruit and bottle; sun rays with date "1930" in background; bolts of lightning emerging from train wheels; all within beaded border; surrounding legend SOUTHERN RAILWAY SYSTEM CENTENNIAL / South Carolina 1830 Virginia 1831 Alabama 1832.

The reverse bears cornucopia at center with legend COTTON CORN TOBACCO; all within beaded border; surrounding legend A CENTURY OF SERVICE CARRYING TO MARKET THE FRUITS OF THE EARTH.

This is one of the iconic American medals and is a part of many museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The medal is struck in bronze and measures 89mm (3 1/2in) in diameter.

References:   MACo 1930-017

The obverse bears profile of Roosevelt, facing left. Around, in two lines, · FRANKLIN · DELANO · ROOSEVELT · - · 31ST · PRESIDENT · OF · THE · UNITED · STATES / · 1933 · · 1937 · - · JOHN · NANCE · GARNER · VICE · PRESIDENT; signed under truncation, PMANSHIP ©

The reverse bears U.S.S. Constitution heading left above winged female in flight, surrounded by beaded border. Around, : THOU · TOO · SAIL · ON · O · SHIP · OF · STATE : SAIL · ON · O · UNION · STRONG · AND · GREAT

Roosevelt's profile is modeled in such high relief that it took 12 strikes from the great presses at the Mint to render the finer details. Roosevelt himself apparently suggested the "Old Ironsides" motif for the reverse. Manship placed the winged female figure underneath to represent the modern day "Ship of State."

I do not have many U.S. Mint medals in my collection, but this one is really quite handsome. According to Joe Levine, many collectors believe this to be the handsomest of all bronze inauguration medals.

The medal measures 76.2mm (2 5/8in) in diameter and 4mm in thickness and was struck in bronze by the U.S. Mint. The mintage was 1,500. There are two much rarer variants of this medal that were struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. The dies were actually produced there and MACo struck 50 pieces on its own presses using a 5.24mm thick planchet. Unfortunately, MACo could not match the Mint's quote of 85¢ per piece and had to send the dies to Philadelphia for production of the complete run. Of the 50 pieces struck by MACo one is reported to have been gold-plated, all others have a dark brown patina.

Many thanks to Joe Levine for additional information and to a collector who wishes to remain anonymous for sending me pictures of the Medallic Art variant.

References:   Marqusee 254, Murtha 332

References:   MACo 1934-023, Murtha 335