This uniface medal's obverse bears standing Columbia holding laurel branch in left hand, magnifying glass in right; Sun's rays emerging enhanced through magnifier; to left, winding banner reading LIGHT / UNITES / SCIENCE / & / ART; to right, artist's palette and chemical vessel; below, likeness of Louis Daguerre. Around, PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA; to right of figure, 1897; below, to left and right of Daguerre, LOUIS - DAGUERRE; at end of winding banner, crudely incused, R.STOLL NY.; below, in tiny letters, .D.BRENNER NY.
The otherwise blank reverse bears issuer's mark ROBERT STOLL / N.Y. / 19 JOHN ST.
The medal celebrates the father of photography, Louis Daguerre, as well as photography itself as a union of science and art. Louis Daguerre, building on work by countryman Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce had developed a process that allowed the relatively reliable and inexpensive creation of "daguerrotypes". In 1839 the French government awarded pensions to both Daguerre and Niépce's son and they published the process to make it available almost free of restrictions. Thus, the field of photography was born.
By 1897 the old Daguerrotype had already been defeated by newer, less expensive technologies. The 1850's saw the arrival of inexpensive ambrotypes, quick tintypes, and paper prints from glass negatives. In the late 1860's, inventors Louis Ducos du Hauron and Charles Cros unveiled their nearly identical ideas for making full-color prints on paper. Yet the field was still young and certainly not easily accessible to the wider public. In the late 19th century, photography was still a developing field, both artistically and in terms of science and engineering, and the medal acknowledges this perfectly.
This medal is somewhat crowded but nevertheless attractive due to its heavy ornamentation and whimsical lettering. In 1897 Victor David Brenner worked as a die cutter for the New York seal and die maker, Robert Stoll. Under Stoll's employment, he produced dozens of medals, including the Society of Cincinnati Medal, the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer Jubilee Medal, a Beethoven Medal, and at least six athletic, award medals.
The medal measures 54mm in diameter and was struck in bronze by Robert Stoll of New York.
