Medals bearing Animals

The medal's obverse bears a nude male figure, maybe Hercules, wrestling a powerful steer by the horns.

The medal's reverse bears perched eagle before diminuitive buildings.  Across lower half, ALLEN GEWALTEN ZUM / TRUTZ SICH ERHALTEN / NIMMER SICH BEUGEN / KRÄFTIG SICH ZEIGEN / RUFET DIE ARME / DER GOETTER / HERBEI; signed above exergue, R BOSSELT

The poem on the reverse is the second verse of Goethe's "Cowardly Thoughts." While the first verse lists negative behaviors resulting in disaster, the second verse provides positive patterns.  It translates roughly to:

To persist, despite all powers arrayed against you,
to never bow down,
to always show strength,
will raise the arms of the gods on your behalf.

This is a beautiful and relatively rare medal.  The interplay between the dark patina and the modeling of the muscles gives the medal an unusual depth. The medal was used as an award by the German section at the International Exhibition in Brussels in 1910.  Bosselt seemed to be en vogue at that time.  His Athena graced the reverse of the American Numismatic Society's medal in the same year.

The circular medal measures 65mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Carl Poellath Company of Schrobenhausen, Germany.

The plaque bears Heracles running next to Ceryneian Hind, both facing left, within heavily beaded border. Signed at bottom, EDWARD FIELD SANFORD JR. 1914.

It was Heracles' third labour to catch the Ceryneian Hind. Heracles had proven that killing great beasts was a challenge he could overcome with relative ease. Catching the Ceryneian Hind was supposed to be impossible as the sacred deer could outrun even arrows that were shot at her. Even were Heracles to succeed, by doing so he would anger the goddess Artemis, because the hind was hers.

Heracles succeeded by catching the hind, apologizing to Artemis and promising to let the hind go after the completion of his task, and then tricking Eurystheus into letting the hind go after he had confirmed the challenge's completion.

The circular plaque measures 142.5mm in diameter and was cast in bronze. No mintage is reported.

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

References:   ANS 32

References:   ANS 31, Baxter 316, MACo 1917-012, Marqusee 201

The medal's obverse bears dolphins over anchor, over crossed cannon barrels and fasces; large round knob at top.

The reverse is bare.

It is unknown whether Manship created this design for a commission, a design competition, or independently from a sense of patriotic fervor. Manship certainly was a fierce patriot who did what he could to support the war effort.

The exact date for this design is also not known but one of the other designs, the Army Valor decoration, has a sample date of 1918 inscribed on the reverse.  They all date roughly to the end of World War I, probably 1918 or 1919.

The cast bronze measures approximately 67mm x 79mm and weighs 238.5g.

The obverse bears a champion setter at attention under an Irish harp. Three clover leaves on each side. Around, IRISH SETTER CLUB OF AMERICA; over harp, signed LAURA GARDIN / SCULPTOR.

The reverse bears leash over dedication panel. Around, AFFECTION (*) COVRAGE (*) BEAVTY (*) INTELLIGENCE; in center, TO ENCOVRAGE / BREEDING AND / DEVELOP AND PERFECT / NATVRE'S CONTRIBVTION / TO A NOBLE RACE / AWARDED / TO.

This medal measures 76.3mm (3in) in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   Baxter 357, MACo 1919-007, Marqusee 170

The obverse bears a Morgan horse in profile, facing left. Around, THE MORGAN HORSE CLVB; signed at left next to horse's chest, LAVRA GARDIN / FRASER 1923 / ©

The reverse bears mare with young colt facing right. Above, VERMONT; signed at bottom left, (LGF monogram) / 1923 / ©

The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO NY

The Morgan horse is one of the earliest horse breeds developed in the United States. Its foundation sire was named Figure, later Justin Morgan after his best-known owner. Morgans were used as coach horses, harness racing, general riding animals, and as cavalry horses during the Civil War.

This medal measures 75mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   Baxter 358, MACo 1923-017, Marqusee 173

The medal's obverse bears polo pony with rider in gallop, right, rider facing backwards with polo stick raised above his head. Signed at left, LAVRA GARDIN / FRASER 1923

The reverse bears wreath around centerfield. Around edge, HORSE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA MEDAL / FOR THE BEST PLAYING POLO PONY ON EACH CLVB; engraved in centerfield, MITZI / OWNER / HOWARD S. NEILSON / CLVB / OX RIDGE HVNT CLVB / SEASON / 1925

This is yet another medal where Laura Gardon Fraser showed her talent for modeling horses and riders. In this case, the polo player is leaning backwards, possibly about to pull the horse around to reverse direction.

The circular medal measures 75.8mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1923-016

The uniface medal's obverse bears a Morgan horse in profile, facing left. Around, THE MORGAN HORSE; signed at left next to horse's chest, LAVRA GARDIN / FRASER 1923 / ©

The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO NY

This is a later variation of the original Morgan Horse Club medal that was used as an award medal by the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA). I do not know whether Laura Gardin Fraser herself modified the die for the obverse or whether that was done later by someone else. Any additional information about this medal is welcome.