Art Deco Medals

[dhermann1]

I've been spending the last couple of years discovering and going totally gonzo over various types of Art Deco decorative arts (I know that's totally redundant, but you know what I mean.) First it was Deco Chinese rugs of the 1910 to 1940 period. Recently it was textiles, the Taisho kimonos of the same period. Now it's medals. Starting in the Art Nouveau period, the art of medal making had a renaissance. You see them on Ebay all the time. They're usually only about 3 inches (7 cm) in diameter or less. They were struck off as commemoratives, or as awards for sport or industrial achievement. They're easy to miss, but if you look closely they are a world of exquisite and imaginative design. They tend not to be cheap. They're often $150 or more, depending on the metal. Silver and gold are more valuable, but most are bronze.
Here's one website I found with a lot of examples. Enjoy.
http://www.medals4trade.com/collections/thumbnails.php?album=1132

 

["Skeet" McD]

One man's trash, etc.

This is a fascinating and worthwhile endeavour I expect you will have tons of fun with: those small, often overlooked things—like postage stamps and such—are, as you've remarked, often chock-a-block full of great design.

While interest in the Deco period is a late development for me--and still, FWIW, not a favorite style (I know, heresy! in these parts!)...I was always interested in weirdo medallic art. I know that I'm getting old! only 30 or so years ago you could walk into any of the coin dealers, at that time clustered on Bromfield Street in Boston, and ask for their--and I quote!--"Junk Box."

And what a treasure trove it usually turned out to be! I was usually looking for Catholic trivia--religious medals, etc.--but all sorts of things such as you describe were in there. Even then, the larger bronzes and such were a known quantity....but if you were looking for smaller fry, you could come home with a pile of gems for very, very small change.

Sorry for the reminiscence....but all the best wishes for similar good luck in your own hunts, and don't forget to inquire about the "junk box"!

"Skeet"

 

[LordBest]

Very nteresting too, as it comes from the final period of artistic strength of the Paris Medal Mint before they embraced modernism and led world numismatic art into an abyss from which it has never emerged. Where the Paris mint went, so the world followed. Nearly three centuries of unparalleled artistry of both coins and medals gone.
Enough of that, I'm beginning to gibber.

 

[Widebrim]

LordBest: An Englishman unlucky enough to be born in Australia.

LordBest, I love that new signature line of yours! (Although I'm sure other Aussies would not quite agree, mate.) I suppose it is akin to saying, "A Spaniard unlucky enough to be born in Argentina," or "A Portuguese unlucky enough to be born in the Cape Verde Islands." (My apologies to all those nationals and countries.:eusa_doh: ) And I agree with what you said about the Paris Medal Mint...

 

[Foofoogal]

dhermann1
fabulous link. I am an Art Deco fanatic but also am amazed at where one finds art.
These are like buttons to me. You definitely will get hooked fast. :eusa_clap

 

[LordBest]

Thank you. For the record, I see no contradiction between being English/British and Australian*. But if I say I am an Australian Englishman people tend to assume I was born in England.

LordBest, I love that new signature line of yours! (Although I'm sure other Aussies would not quite agree, mate.) I suppose it is akin to saying, "A Spaniard unlucky enough to be born in Argentina," or "A Portuguese unlucky enough to be born in the Cape Verde Islands." (My apologies to all those nationals and countries.:eusa_doh: ) And I agree with what you said about the Paris Medal Mint...

*Or Italian/Greek/Chinese/Iraqi/etc and Australian

 

[Widebrim]

Thank you. For the record, I see no contradiction between being English/British and Australian*. But if I say I am an Australian Englishman people tend to assume I was born in England.

*Or Italian/Greek/Chinese/Iraqi/etc and Australian

That's the difference here in the States. If I were to say that I am, for example, Greek American, most people would think that I was simply an American of Greek ancestry (unless I spoke with a Greek accent). Perhaps you should say that you're a English Australian, rather than the reverse.[huh]