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The Newsletter of Medal Collectors of America
Volume 13 Number 5 May 2010
Board MembersJohn Sallay, President, [email protected] Menchell, Vice President [email protected] E. Bentley, Secretary, [email protected] D. Tayman, TreasurerBenjamin Weiss, WebmasterJohn W. AdamsDavid T. Alexander, [email protected] F. Fritsch, [email protected] Hofer, [email protected] Lopez, [email protected] Miller, [email protected] Rezak, [email protected] Scarinci, [email protected] Turrini, [email protected]
John W. Adams, Editor99 High Street, 11th floorBoston, MA [email protected]
Barry Tayman, Treasurer3115 Nestling Pine CourtEllicott City, MD [email protected]
Benjamin Weiss, [email protected]
Website: medalcollectors.org
Editor of Collectors’ Guide, Dick Johnson([email protected])
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From the Editor 3
Betts 76 (by David Fanning) 3
What is a Medal? (by Stephen K. Scher) 5
The Edict of Fontainebleau(by Skyler Liechty) 6
Connoisseurship and Collecting(by Lev Tsitrin) 9
Letters to the Editor 11
Calendar for 2010August 12th Club meeting 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. atMassachusetts Historical Society, Boston.Anne Bentley and John Adams to speak.
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From the Editor
With this issue, we exercise oureditorial prerogative and include a flyer on ournew book: Medallic Portraits of AdmiralVernon/Medals Sometimes Lie. Modestyaside, the book is a milestone, with the lastpublication (in English) on the subject havingoccurred in 1945. The flyer describes thecontents of the book quite well. We wouldonly add that our aim was not to publish thelast word on the subject but, quite the opposite,to provide a firm foundation upon whichcollectors and students of the Vernon medalscan now build.
Out August meeting at theMassachusetts Historical Society is one thatyou will not want to miss. Anne Bentley hasdone an heroic job of pulling together materialfor a visual feast:
MHS gearing up for August exhibition…
We’ve planned nine sections for our exhibition,“Precious Metals: From Au to Zn”, scheduledto open on Monday, August 2nd and runthrough September 11th.. While eight cases willfeature medals—our primary collectinginterest—the ninth will focus on our colonialcoins and paper money. The other sections willcover the Ship Columbia medal; the ComitiaAmericana Washington-Webster set; a largedisplay of Betts pieces (including Indian Peacemedals) and an extra case on Admiral Vernon,to tie into John W. Adams’s forthcomingpublication on that series. We haven’tforgotten what Storer called “Personal medals,”and we have a case of school medals and othertokens. Our section on awards and badges willcover medical and military history, andWilliam Sumner Appleton’s Washingtonianawill complete the display.
“Precious Metals: From Au to Zn” August 2-September 11, 2010Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154Boylston Street, Boston.
Public hours 1-4 P.M. Monday throughSaturday.Additional A.N.A. hours 9 A.M to Noon,Tuesday August 10-Saturday August 14.
If you are anywhere in New Englandand miss this gathering, you should consideranother line of work.
Betts 76 (by David Fanning)
In the April issue, David contributed abrilliant article on Betts 76, a medal far lessknown to numismatists than Betts 75. In a fitof torpidity, we neglected to include the imagesaccompanying the article. We make up for ouromission herewith.
CaptionsFigure 1 — A large-size copper Betts-
75 medal, the size and type which sawdistribution to Native Americans. This is the75.5 mm specimen recently sold as part of theJohn W. Adams collection (photo courtesy ofStack’s Rare Coins, New York City).
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Figure 2 — The 1686 dated Betts-76French Family Medal. This is a 41.4 mmspecimen recently sold as part of the John W.Adams collection, now in the collection of theauthor (photo courtesy of Stack’s Rare Coins,New York City).
Figure 3 — Betts-76 as depicted in the1702 edition of Médailles sur les principauxévénements du règne de Louis le Grand, avecdes explications historiques.
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What is a Medal? (by Stephen K. Scher)
In the world of modern andcontemporary art, this is certainly a relevantand vexing question and one that has occupiedthe Saltus Award Standing Committee of theAmerican Numismatic Society for many years.This award, as you may already know, is, in itsfull title, the J. Sanford Saltus Award forOutstanding Achievement in the Art of theMedal and has been given, almost annually,since 1919, during which time the parametersof the medium has changed considerably.As chair of this committee I have led the often-contentious discussions regarding the exactdefinition of a medal, since almost alltraditional elements have been rejected orexpanded by contemporary medalists. Anyonewho has attended a FIDEM (FédérationInternational de la Médaille d’Art) Congressover the past decade or so has encountered abewildering array of objects called medals, andhas quite understandably questioned exactlywhat is a medal, since many of the worksappear to be small sculptures with no featuresthat would normally be associated with amedal.
Since it was and is the charge of theSaltus Committee to identify outstandingmedalists, we have, in our meetings, usuallybeen confronted with the necessity ofanswering the question posed by John Sallay.In an attempt either to provide an answer orstimulate discussion during Committeemeetings, at one point I proposed the followingdefinition, wishing, in doing so, to avoidimposing any restrictions upon an art form thathad evolved so drastically and yet insisting thatsome sort of definition was necessary:
“For some considerable amount of timethere has been much discussion andcontroversy regarding the definition of a medalin the contemporary context. As part of itsguidelines the Saltus Committee hasestablished the following parameters:
“In consideration of the medallicproduction of any given artist, the shape,
material, the presence or not of a portrait, thepresence or not of a reverse, and, for the mostpart, size, cannot in and of themselves beconsidered as important limiting factors, sincemany examples from the past that havehistorically been accepted as medals do notnecessarily encompass all, or a major part, ofthese factors. The one overriding condition thatwould usually seem to distinguish the medalfrom the plaquette, the relief sculpture, andsmall sculpture, itself, is the generallycommemorative nature of the medal. Thisusually, but not always, means that a legend orinscription is part of the composition.
“We understand that there are manyexceptions to this description, and we haveevery intention of applying our parameters withflexibility, but we also feel that such adescription will enable us to select with greaterease and a clearer direction an artist whofulfills the original description of the award for“distinguished achievement in the art of themedal,” considering the wide range of objectsthat are currently described as “medals.”
There you have it! Not ideal, but at leastsomething to work with.
One member of Committee, thedistinguished numismatist and medal scholar,Philip Attwood, in his editorial notice in theautumn, 2007 issue of The Medal, entitled “TheBoundaries of the Medal,” begins with thefollowing paragraph:
“The question of how to define themedal so often results in an answer thatsatisfies no one that it is tempting to concludethat it is the question that must be wrong.Framing the discussion in terms of thecharacteristics towards which medals tend isperhaps a more profitable way forward.Circular, two-sided, combining image and text,fitting within the hand, manufactured in metal,produced in editions. These are all familiarfeatures, and anyone with a practical agenda –the organizer of a medal competition orexhibition or the commissioner of a medal -may well feel it necessary to make hard andfast decisions in some of these particular areas.
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But what of the rest of us, when we are notorganizing competitions and exhibitions orcommissioning medals? Can the rest of theworld perhaps afford to take a more relaxedview?”
I think we have all agreed that “a morerelaxed view” is necessary, but if we are toorelaxed, we end up with no definition and thepossibility that anything could be called amedal. That, at least, might lead a greatlyincreased membership of the MCA.
The Edict of Fontainebleau(by Skyler Liechty)
Huguenots, who were the members ofthe Protestant Reformed Church of France orFrench Calvinists, were all too familiar withreligious discrimination and persecution duringthe sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenthcentury by the French Catholics. Thisharassment would be the root cause of manyconflicts. On the first of March 1562 in Wassy,France, two hundred Huguenot worshipers andcitizens were slaughtered by troops of Francis,Duke of Guise. This began a series of conflictsknown as the French Wars of Religion.Interestingly enough, this conflict also includeda minor dispute between the French aristocratichouses of Bourbon and Guise.
The series of wars that began with theMassacre of Wassy would conclude thirty-sixyears later with the issuing of the Edict ofNantes by Henry IV. This formally establishedCatholicism as the state religion and, at thesame time, assured the Huguenots that theywould receive equal rights. Toleration of theHuguenots was Royal as opposed to popularpolicy and they would remain generallyunmolested for the remainder of Henry IV’sreign and also under the reign of Louis XIII.However the Hugenots lost protection underLouis XIV when, in October 1685, he issuedthe Edict of Fontainebleau more commonlyknown as the Revocation of the Edict ofNantes. With persecution re-intensifying there
would be a mass emigration of the Huguenotsinto England, the United Provinces,Switzerland, Brandenburg-Prussia, Denmark,the Habsburg's Holy Roman Empire, SouthAfrica and North America seeking religiousasylum.
From etching entitled "Le massacre fait à Vassy lepremier jour de mars 1562." Source: www.wikipedia.com
Prior to the Edict of Fontainebleau, theHuguenots had tolerated more than fourhundred proclamations, edicts, and declarationsattacking their civil freedom and their property.A mere four years prior to this edict, Louis XIVhad implemented a policy referred to asDragonnades, a course of action that involvedbilleting particularly obnoxious and difficultsoldiers, known as dragoons within Protestanthouseholds, with the expectation that theintimidation factor would be strong enough topersuade Huguenot families to either leaveFrance or convert to Roman Catholicism.Madame de Maintenon, the second wife ofLouis, is believed to have been an advocate ofthe greater restrictions on the Huguenots. Whileshe was opposed to the cruelties of theDragonnades, the conversions they procuredwere a welcomed result. Moreover orders weregiven by Louis XIV to destroy the Huguenotchurches and close all the Protestant schools.Emigration estimates range from two hundredthousand to upwards of nine hundred thousandin the two decades that followed the edict. OnJanuary 17th 1686, Louis XIV himself claimedthat only one thousand to one thousand five
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hundred from a population of eight to ninehundred thousand Huguenots had remained inFrance after his Edict.
Protestant engraving representing 'les dragonnades' in Franceunder Louis XIV. Source: www.wikipedia.com
One of the enduring consequences toFrance from this Edict was the loss of a largepopulation of skilled craftsmen. Huguenotshad substantial knowledge in working with silk,plate glass and silver and were heavily involvedin cabinet making. Upon leaving France, allthe knowledge of important techniques andstyles left with them, causing a tremendousdecline in the quality of French producedgoods. Not only did England, the UnitedProvinces, and the Habsburg's Holy RomanEmpire benefit from the skills brought by theHuguenots, but the America colonies did aswell.
Huguenot immigration was experiencedin many of the American colonies after theEdict. After the destruction of the Protestantchurches at Rochelle in 1685, a product of theEdict, colonists from that city came to thesettlements in the colony of New York. The L’Amoreaux family set sail for the Americancolonies and landed at New Rochelle inWestchester county, New York, as early as1685. Several other of the Huguenot familiesthat settled in New Rochelle were part of the
group escaping. In 1686, a number of Huguenotmerchants and manufacturers arrived atCharleston and, having the means, establishedcommercial houses there. Certain expatriateswho went to South Carolina were natives of theimportant town of Vitre that was located in thenortheastern part of the province of Bretagne.Evidence also suggests that about a hundredand fifty families had settled in Massachusetts,with some moving as far north as Maine. SomeHuguenots would take a less direct path to thecolonies: they would first escape to England orIreland from where they would embark for theWest Indies and British North America.Mounting pressure from Louis XIV in theFrench controlled islands in the Caribbeanwould also result in flight to the colonies inAmerica. In July 1686, application was madeby families lately arrived from St.Christopher’s for admission to the colony ofBoston.
Descendants of these Huguenotsincluded people such as Stephen EtienneDelancey. He escaped the persecution byfleeing to Rotterdam, then to England in thefirst few months of 1686, then to the coloniesin June 1686. He was a member for theProvince of New York Provincial Assemblyand State Senator and was a major figure in thelife of colonial New York. One of his son’sbecame Chief Justice of the Supreme Court forthe Province of New York and the other servedin the New York Provincial Assembly forseveral years. Pierre Baudouin fled to Ireland,then to Portland, Maine, finally settling inBoston and was the grandfather of JamesBowdoin. James Bowdoin was an Americanpolitical and intellectual leader from Bostonduring the American Revolution. He served inboth branches of the Massachusetts GeneralCourt and was president of the state'sconstitutional convention. After independencehe was governor of Massachusetts. The listgoes on and on of significant Huguenotimmigrants and families that greatlycontributed to America. The contributions of
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skills and labor brought into colonial Americawould have a long lasting impact.Jean-Paul Divo lists two medals struck tocommemorate this event in his book Medalillesde Louis XIV, being numbers 209 and 210. Thisreverse die pictured below is unlisted. It issigned by Henri Roussel with an R on theobverse and H. ROVSSEL on the reverse by.On the obverse is a bust of Louis XIV thelegend LVDOVICVS MAGNVS REXCHRISTIANISS (Louis the most excellentChristian King). Louis XIV, known as le RoiSoleil (the Sun King), was King of France andof Navarre. He reigned the longest of any otherdocumented European Monarch, ruling from1643 until 1715. France stood as the leadingEuropean power during his reign and wasengaged in three major wars: the Franco-DutchWar, the War of the League of Augsburg, andthe War of the Spanish Succession.
On the reverse is a woman, holding acrucifix in one hand and a book on the otherstanding on a prostrate body. In thebackground, the building is possibly the Églisedu Dôme, which was commissioned by LouisXIV as a private royal chapel. Interestingly thisis where the tomb of Napoleon resides. Reverselegend HAERESIS EXTINCTA (the heresyexpelled). This is the same legend as Divo 209.
In exergue EDICTVM OCTOBERIS MDC LXXXV (the Edict of October 1685). Thisparticular medal is exceedingly rare. I amaware of a single example of this medal insilver.
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Whether or not the medals struck tocommemorate this event should belong to theAmerican series is a question best answered bythe individual collector. As for me, I believe itto be a great addition to any colonial Americanmedal cabinet.
Bibliography:
Baird, Charles Washington, History of theHuguenot Emigration to America: Volume II.New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.(1885)
Divo, Jean Paul, Medailles de Louis XIV.Zurich: Spink & Son (1982)
Norton, Frank H. The Huguenots Settlementsof America. The Illustrated American Volume11 Issue 124. The Illustrated AmericanPublishing Company(1892)
Reynolds, Cuyler (ed.) Hudson-MohawkGenealogy and Family Memories: Volume I.New York: Lewis Historical PublishingCompany (1911)
Smiles, Samuel, The Huguenots: TheirSettlements, Churches, and Industries inEngland and Ireland. New York: Harper &Brothers, Publishers (1868)
Spielvogel, Jackson, Western Civilization:Volume II: Since 1500. Wadsworth Publishing;5 edition (2002)
www.huguenotsociety.org/
www.wikipedia.com
Colombia Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition:Volume XIII
Connoisseurship and Collecting(Lev Tsitrin)
A few years ago I listened to a paneldiscussion headed by the New York Timesbook review editor. The main grievance ofauthors whose books have been reviewed, heinformed the audience, is that the reviewer doesnot take the trouble to read the book he isreviewing, and so misses its point entirely.
For the life of me I cannot recall nowhow he extricated himself and proved that theauthors' perception was wrong and that thereviewers did their job diligently andconscientiously -- but it was that remark thatcame to my mind as I read Dr. Scher's rebuttalof my attempt to differentiate betweenconnoisseurship and aesthetics. "How could hesay that I denigrate connoisseurship when Iclearly said nothing of a kind?" I asked myself.(And I am sure that Dr. Scher, whose reactionwas clearly triggered by what he saw as mymisunderstanding -- or misrepresentation -- ofhis remark that connoisseurship helps point tothose examples of a particular medal that mostadequately represent the artist's intentions, nodoubt felt a similar grievance:" How come Levcould so misunderstand what I so clearlystated?")
Since, as per the august authority of theabove-mentioned NY Times editor, suchgrievances as mine towards Dr. Scher, and Dr.Scher's towards me are universal and henceroutine, I will not go through a point-by-pointrebuttal of what Dr. Scher said I said. Instead,let me say that I completely agree with Dr.Scher on the importance of connoisseurship --yet, at the same time, let us be clear about itsscope and its role in collecting.
This role is best illustrated by apractical example of the use ofconnoisseurship. At this January's Waldorf-Astoria convention, a European dealer hadseveral trays of thoroughly unappealing (to me)aftercasts of well-known Renaissance medals --but placed among them was a very nice,sharply-defined portrait medal of a lady that
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immediately attracted my attention. The labeldescribed it as a good cast, and it was pricedaccordingly – yet, as I reached to examine itcloser, it felt too heavy, so I looked closely atthe edge, and sure enough there was RRstamped into it. I pointed this out to the seller,expecting him to change his description (andthe price) in accordance with the fact that thiswas not a cast but a Ready electrotype -- but heinsisted that because he bought it in a auctionthat described it as a cast, it was, insofar as hewas concerned, a cast, described and pricedcorrectly. My appeals to him to use his owneyes -- or his connoisseurship, if you will --were in vain. Needless to say, I did not buy thepiece.
Therein lies one value ofconnoisseurship -- by letting us know whatexactly it is that the dealer is selling,connoisseurship prevents us from falling intotraps and buying what the object is not. It tellsus whether the price is inflated, or fair, or is infact a bargain, be it, to use Dr. Scher's example,$50,000 for an iconic piece in a superb originalcast and pristine condition, or $500 for thedecent aftercast of the same.
That's the function of connoisseurshipin a nutshell -- and the limit of what it can dofor a collector. Once the true nature of theobject is established, it is of no further use. Canit tell the collector whether to buy that $500piece or not? A $100 one? No, that's simply notits call. Here, an entirely different set ofconsiderations comes into play. While itprevents the collector from being swindled intobuying, say, an electrotype touted as a superbcast, or a late aftercast claimed to be a fineoriginal, it has nothing at all to say about theaesthetics of the piece.
Yet it is aesthetics that, in the finalanalysis, are all-important. After all, medals areinteresting only insofar as they please the eyeand/or tease the mind -- and pieces that fail theconnoisseurship’s test of "fineness" may welldo both -- and for that matter, may do both verywell indeed. Emotions cannot be measured inmonetary terms of course, but I would argue
that one can very easily get $50,000 worth ofaesthetic pleasure from a $500 piece for, inpurely aesthetic terms, the difference between a$500 and a $50,000 piece may not be that great.
And even in the context of the artist'sintentions, consideration for which we aredebating here, aesthetics plays a leading part. ARembrandt's print taken from a worn-out platehas but little monetary value not because it canbe shown, when compared to a superbimpression, to misrepresent artist's intention. Itis of little worth commercially because, withoutbeing compared to anything at all, it is of noworth aesthetically. It just doesn’t look good.Likewise, the reason a superb impression isexpensive is not because it fully representsRembrandt's artistic intentions, but because it isaesthetically exciting. There certainly arevariations in that -- at a print fair a dozen or soyears ago a dealer had two virtuallyindistinguishable impressions of a Rembrandtprints shown side-by-side – one priced at fortythousand dollars, the other at "only" half thatmuch -- but the difference in the impressions,although it could be explained in the terms ofprintmaking technicalities (i.e. in the terms of"connoisseurship"), was, upon closerexamination, clearly reflected in aesthetics; themore expensive one quite simply looked better.Neither the connoisseurship nor the respect forRembrandt's "artistic intentions" were in playhere (neither of the two appeared to be aposthumous impression, so Rembrandt musthave approved of both) -- aesthetics alone was.
And then, there is one aspect ofmedallic connoisseurship where it not justcontradicts, but collides head-on with therespect for artistic intentions. Dr. Schermentioned "indifferent patina" as one of theaspects of the medal that tells a connoisseur tosnub a particular piece. But let’s think for aminute. Patina may help determine the age ofthe piece, but it is in total violation of theartist's intentions. The medal left his hands new-- with a patina of a brand-new piece. Yet itpassed into a collector's hands old -- lookingtotally different from when the artist handled it
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and gave it what he thought was "proper"patination. To be logical, a collector, out of therespect for the artist's intention, should have theold patina removed, and a new one applied. Butto do that, would be to do violence to the primeevidence that the piece is old! It would meandestroying the most foundational factual basisfor connoisseurship! By making sure that onepreserves the evidence that the medal wasindeed made by an original artist, one has tokeep it in a physical form that is definitelydifferent from that envisioned and created bythe original artist – and one does it preciselyout of respect for that artist's "artisticintentions!" I am really sorry to say it, but itlooks to me as if a connoisseur, too, does notcare that much about "artist's intentions."
And then, there is one other observationmade by Dr. Scher that I find hard to agreewith, or to square with his respect for artisticintention: the claim that only the first cast fromthe original model is properly the "original" butthat other examples are something else. Doesn'tthe very nature of the genre require that medalsbe produced in quantity? Isn't that the patron’sdemand? Isn't that what an artist has to keep inmind when accepting the commission? Isn’tproduction of multiples an “artistic intention?”Isn’t that what makes medals “the currency offame?” How come then that only one piece thathe produced is properly the original, but not allof them?
The bottom line, I think, is this --connoisseurship plays a vital role in collecting,but it is a secondary one. Collecting is guidedby curiosity and aesthetics; connoisseurship ismerely a handrail that prevents a collector frommaking false steps as he moves along the pathof satisfying his love of beauty and hisintellectual curiosity.
Letters to Editor
Dear Claudia Einecke,It was so good to have the telephone
conversation with you the other day, and I hopethat my request hasn’t stumped you.
Just to repeat a little;- I belong to arelatively new (about 2 years) organization,The Medal Collectors of America (MCA),whose president, Mr. John Adams, of Boston,Massachusetts, asked me to get information onthe medals collection at LACMA., and thatinformation would then be made available tomembers of MCA , and, presumably, to otherinterested individuals, although any sucharrangements would, of course, need to beplanned and approved beforehand with youand/or others at LACMA.. So, may I suggestthat I call you shortly (please send me yourdirect phone no. at LACMA) so we can thenchat and arrange for us to get together, at yourconvenience, at LACMA. Incidentally, MCAhas a web page at medalcollectors.org – in caseyou’d like to learn more about the organization.
Just as an aside: I have been excitedsince a couple days ago, when I put intoGoogle something like “Medals of people inthe medical and related natural sciences” (Idon’t remember the exact words), and receiveda document from a university in New Zealandthat listed a set of medals in their collection thatcorresponds very closely with mine, and, ofcourse, I’ll try to get in touch with them andexchange notes.
I look forward to hearing from you, andmeanwhile send my best wishes.
Ralph SonnenscheinTel. (310) 454-0808
[Ralph is trying to procure the contents ofthe collection that Kalhil Gibran donated toLACMA—Ed.]
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Hi John,Just got the latest issue of the advisory
with the search for a volunteer re. the 4x4x9boxes. I would be happy to take care ofstorage. I have a few empty offices here, and astaff that would be able to take care of theshipping of orders. Let me know how toproceed.
Dale
Dale KruegerChairman & CEOAshford Financial Group, Inc.2901 Ross Ct.Midland, MI 48640989-835-7424 Phone 989-835-7530 Fax989-239-4655 Cell800-933-3361 Toll-free
[We applaud Dale's willingness to volunteer.We are currently testing a second box usedby Anne Bentley in her work at the MHS.When we have a proposal to make, we willget back to the Board the membership, andparticularly Dale. Ed.]
Dear Mr. Adams,I am doing some research on my
ancestor Elias Boudinot, and it appears thatBenjamin Franklin sent him a LibertasAmericana medal. I am wondering if there isdocumentation that Franklin did indeed giveBoudinot one of these medals, and if so, can weascertain the current disposition of the medal?Is it in public or private hands? As Boudinotwas the president of the Continental Congressat the time, it looks like he was given one of thesilver Libertas Americana medals. Any helpyou could help me in tracking down thisinformation would be most appreciated.
Best regards,
David Boudinot
P.S. I was given your email by Mr. Alan M.Stahl, Curator of Numismatics at PrincetonUniversity.
Good morning,Mr. B - If you go on the Internet to the
Papers of Benjamin Franklin, you will find anextensive correspondence between the twomen. In his letter of June 18th, 1783, toFranklin, Boudinot expresses his thanks for twomedals. He reports that he gave the copperspecimen to Livingston which, by inference,means that he kept a silver medal for himself. Itis highly unlikely that the provenance of thismedal has survived. If it is not at Princeton, youmight check the old Philadelphia institutionssuch as the Philosophical Society, theHistorical Society of Pennsylvania and TheLibrary Company. Good luck !
John Adams
Dear John,Kudos to you and to the authors of the
two principal articles in the particularly fineApril issue of The MCA Advisory.
I strongly second your views on the ill-advised slabbing and numerical grading ofAdmiral Vernon medals, a most unwelcomepractice that seems to have metastasized intovarious areas of numismatics where it reallydoesn't belong.
Best regards,
Dick Margolis
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