All Medals

References:   MACo 1969-016

References:   Cal MA-1993

The medal's obverse bears standing female in gap between two half-walls, left arm resting on wall, right arm holding painter's pallet.Around top, THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

The reverse bears oak and laurel branches before view of Art Institute building. Around top, THE NORMAN WAIT HARRIS PRIZE; across center, AWARDED TO / CLIFFORD ADDAMS / 1926; signed at bottom, V·D·Brenner Sc.

The medal was awarded for best painting by an American artist. This medal's recipient, Clifford Addams (1876-1942), was an American painter and printmaker who studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he won the coveted Cresson Scholarship to study abroad. He went to France where he became a student of James McNeill Whistler and married fellow artist Inez Bate. He volunteered for service in the Royal Navy during World War I and returned to the U.S.in 1920. He became a prominent etcher and practiced his art in New York City.  He died in his studio in Greenwich Village in 1942.

The medal's obverse bears a striking resemblance in design to Hermon A. MacNeil's Standing Liberty quarter of 1916. It has been speculated that this medal inspired MacNeill's design.

The circular medal measures 70mm in diameter and was struck in silver by the Medallic Art Company of New York.

References:   Baxter 138, MACo 1909-002

This uniface medal shows young mother breastfeeding her baby, one hand holding her breast, the other supporting baby's head.

Maker's mark at 6:00 om edge, MEDALLIC ART CO. N.Y.

The Medallic Art Company acquired the rights to this French medal in 1933 and made a stock medal in one size. Chapu was primarily a portrait medalist who had a great influence on young American artists who studied under him at the Academie Julian. Among his American pupils were such greats as John Flanagan, Hermon Atkins MacNeil, and Bela Pratt.

The medal measures 85mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1933-035, Marqusee 113

The medal's obverse bears winged nude male, facing helf right, standing erect on top of cloud shrouded globe, wings and arms stretched wide, face turned upwards. Around, BRONXVILLE · VICTORIOVS

The medal's reverse bears oil lamp on book above cartouche with hanging garlands.  Around, BRONXVILLE HIGH · SCHOOL · ; under book, CREATIVE / ARTS · MEDALL / AWARDED · TO; in cartouche, JAMES MARTIN / 1936; signed under cartouche with ( FE AAW CIT monogram)

This Weinman design is probably one of the most beautiful school award medals of all times.

The circular medal measures 69.8mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York.  No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1931-002

The uniface medal bears kneeling nude female figure with dove resting on her left hand within geometric pattern border.  Downwards at left side, VIRGO; along border at right bottom, MACO © 1967

Chambellan's Zodiac medals were issued more than a decade after his death and are probably based on designs he made in the early 1930s when he was working on the RKO Roxy Theater.  The 1960s saw renewed interest in astrology and the signs of the zodiac arising in part from the counter-cultural hippie movement and its subsequent adoption into mainstream culture.

Virgo is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac. It is the second-largest constellation spanning between 150 and 180 degrees of the zodiac. Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun transits this area on average between August 23 and September 22, and under the sidereal zodiac, the sun transits the constellation of Virgo from September 17 to October 17.

Individuals born during these dates, depending on which system of astrology they subscribe to, may be called Virgos or Virgoans. The symbol of the maiden is based on Astraea. In Greek mythology, she was the last immortal to abandon Earth at the end of the Silver Age, when the gods fled to Olympus – hence the sign's association with Earth.

The circular medal measures 69.8mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by the Medallic Art Company. No mintage is reported. 

Like the other zodiac medals in this series it is struck in very high relief. At least one of Chambellan's zodiac medals has a silver variant but at the time of this writing I have not encountered any variants for this medal.

References:   MACo 1967-151-009

The medal's obverse depicts various refinery operations with a worker in the foreground. Around, TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE HUMBLE OIL & REFINING COMPANY COMMEMORATING THEIR / PRODUCTION OF ONE BILLION GALLONS OF 100 OCTANE GASOLINE AT BAYTOWN REFINERY; below, DECEMBER 14, 1944 / HOUSTON, TEXAS

The reverse bears three flying fortresses dropping bombs. In lower half of field, YOUR ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCING A BILLION GALLONS OF / 100 OCTANE GASOLINE HAS GREATLY CONTRIBUTED TO / THE GAINING OF AIR SUPREMACY OVER OUR ENEMIES / (signature of General H H Arnold) / GENERAL U.S. ARMY / COMMANDING GENERAL ARMY AIR FORCES

On December 14, 1945 the 14,000 employees of Humble Oil & Refining Company were honored at a ceremony celebrating the manufacture of a billion gallons of finished 100 Octane Aviation Gasoline at the company's Baytown refinery. A medal was commissioned to commemorate the event and Chambellan was chosen to design and model it.

The medal measures 62mm in diameter and was struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.

References:   MACo 1944-012

References:   Marqusee 219,220

The medal's obverse bears the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, depicting Zeus seated on a throne, holding a scepter in his left hand and a figure of Victory; priests at his feet provide a measure of scale.

The reverse bears calendar panel in three columns surrounded by twelve scenes depicting Heracles' Labors. At top of middle panel, 2001

Heracles was Zeus' mortal son who is said to have established the Olympic Games to honor his father. Heracles' Twelve Labors are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later Romanised as Hercules. They were accomplished over 12 years at the service of King Eurystheus.

The medals were originally offered for a price of $34.95 per bronze piece and $169.00 per silver piece.

The circular medal measures 76.3mm in diameter and was struck in antiqued bronze and silver by the Medallic Art Company of Dayon, Nevada. No mintages are reported.

References:   Cal MA-2001