102787 | GERMANY. World War cast bronze Medal.

102787  |  GERMANY. World War cast bronze Medal. Issued 1919. A lamentation on the recently concluded world war (66mm, 105.83 g, 1h). By R. Förster in München.

 

Female personification of War-Fury (Kriegsfürie) striding left, nude save for billowing cloak, with right hand and hair terminating in numerous serpents, and holding torch in left hand; at a distance in background, cityscape set ablaze and in ruin // View of the Earth, focused upon Africa, with numerous areas of smoke arising from Europe; around and below, banner reading WELTKRIEG 1914–1919; stars and crescent moon in background. Edge: Plain.

 

Klose 22.10; The Art of Devastation, pp. 87 & fig. 12; Kluge & Weisser A27. Choice Mint State. Light brown surfaces, with a subtle matte nature.

 

Ex David Nicholas Silich Collection (acquired from Howard & Frances Simmons, September 2003).

 

While many medals from the German side offer more optimistic and jubilant messages and iconography at the outset of the war, this imagery began to change as the war ravaged on. By the time that the war concluded, the full scale of its effects caused the tune of many medals, such as this one, to change dramatically. In this piece, Förster depicts War-Fury as a hideous and cruel mistress, leaving a trail of carnage behind her. On the reverse, the lonely nature of the Earth is conveyed, with chaos raging all across Europe—all while the rest of the surrounding cosmos is seemingly at peace and in normal order.

 

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Upload: 1 April 2024.