The obverse bears bust of Hyde facing right. Around top, · JAMES · H · HYDE ·; to left, JUNE 6 / 1876; at bottom, · 1948 ·; signed under truncation, PAUL MANSHIP · SCULP
The reverse bears four heads representing the The Four Continents: Minerva in Grecian helmet, Balinese dancer in crown, American Indian with feathered Mohawk, African head with stacked neck rings inspired by the Ife Bronzes; boldly beaded border around heads.
The edge is marked MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y. BRONZE
James Hazen Hyde (1876-1959) was at the center of the first great Wall Street scandal when opponents including such notables as J.P. Morgan, E.H. Harriman and Henry Clay Frick tried to remove him from control of The Equitable, the company his father had founded. While the public smear campaign against him was largely based on untruths, it caused him great social troubles. He eventually divested himself of his businesses and left the United States for Paris to focus on other interests.
One of his great passions was history. He assembled what is probably the most comprehensive and diversified collection of decorative art objects, tapestries, prints and drawings tracing the theme of the Allegory of the Four Parts of the World (or the Four Continents) from the mid-sixteenth to the late nineteenth century. While the collection was divided up among several museums, the bulk of it remains in New York and resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Historical Society, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Many thanks to a collector who wishes to remain anonymous for sending me the images.
The medallion measures 89.3mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.
References: MACo 1948-029