Medal
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A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be intended to be worn, suspended from clothing or jewellery in some way, although this has not always been the case. They may be struck like a coin by dies or die-cast in a mould.
A medal may be awarded to a person or organisation as a form of recognition for sporting, military, scientific, cultural, academic, or various other achievements.
An artist who creates medals or medallions is called a "medalist". Medals have long been popular collectible items, and in numismatics form a class called either exonumia or militaria.
In the proper use of the term, medallions are larger, starting at perhaps four inches across, and are, as such, usually too large to be worn very comfortably, though in colloquial use, "medallion" is often used to refer to a medal used as the pendant of a necklace (as in the medallion man fashion style of the 1960s and 1970s), or for other types of medals. Medallions may also be called "table medals" because they are too large to be worn and can only be displayed on a wall, table top, desk, or cabinet.
Main types
- Awards: awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for sporting, military, scientific, cultural, academic, or various other achievements. Military awards and decorations are more precise terms for certain types of state decoration. Military decorations are often in shapes such as crosses or stars, but are still loosely called "medals", as in the star-shaped American Medal of Honor.
- Commemoratives: created for sale to commemorate particular individuals or events, or as works of medallic art in their own right.
- Souvenirs: similar to a commemorative, but more focused on a place or event like state fairs, expositions, museums, historic sites, etc., and frequently found for sale within their respective souvenir shops.
- Religious: devotional medals may be worn for religious reasons.
- Portraits: produced to immortalize a person with their portrait; European portrait medallions sometimes bear the Latin word aetatis ("of his age") to describe the depicted person's age at the time of the portrait.
- Artistic: made purely as an art object. Plaquettes are often of this type.
- Society Medals: made for societies used as a badge or token of membership.
Etymology
First attested in English in 1578, the word medal is derived from the
Features
Traditionally medals are
The main or front surface of a medal is termed the obverse, and may contain a portrait, pictorial scene, or other image along with an inscription. The reverse, or back surface of the medal, is not always used and may be left blank or may contain a secondary design. It is not uncommon to find only an artistic rendering on the obverse, while all details and other information for the medal are inscribed on the reverse. The rim is found only occasionally employed to display an inscription such as a motto, privy mark, engraver symbol, assayer's marking, or a series number.
Medals that are intended to be hung from a ribbon also include a small suspension piece at the crest with which to loop a suspension ring through. It is through the ring that a ribbon is run or folded so the medal may hang pendent. Medals pinned to the breast use only a small cut of ribbon that is attached to a top bar where the brooch pin is affixed. Top bars may be hidden under the ribbon so they are not visible, be a plain device from which the ribbon attaches, or may even be decorative to complement the design on the medal. Some top bars are elaborate and contain a whole design unto themselves.
Bronze has been the most common material used to create medals, due to its fair price range, durability, ease with which to work when casting, and the ample availability. However, a wide range of other media have also been used. Rarer metals have been employed, such as
.History
The first known instance of a medal being awarded comes from the historian Josephus who, writing long after the event, accounts that in the second century BCE, the High Priest Jonathan led the Hebrews in aid of Alexander Balas, and that in return for this, Alexander "...sent to Jonathan... honorary awards, as a golden button, which it is custom to give the king's kinsmen." Roman emperors used both military awards of medals, and political gifts of medallions that were like very large coins, usually in gold or silver, and die-struck like coins.[7] Both these and actual golden coins were often set as pieces of jewellery, worn by both sexes.
The
In Europe, from the late Middle Ages on, it became common for sovereigns, nobles, and later, intellectuals to commission medals to be given simply as gifts to their political allies to either maintain or gain support of an influential person. The medals were made in a range of metals, such as gold, silver-gilt, silver, bronze, and lead, depending on the status of the recipient. They were typically up to about three inches across, and usually featured the head of the donor on the obverse, surrounded by an inscription with their name and title, and their emblem on the reverse, with a learned motto inscribed round the edges. Such medals were not usually intended to be worn, although they might have been set as pendants on a chain. From the 16th century onward, medals were made, both by rulers for presentation and private enterprise for sale, to commemorate specific events, including military battles and victories, and from this grew the practice of awarding military medals specifically to combatants, though initially only a few of the much higher-ranking officers.
The medieval revival seems to have begun around 1400 with the extravagant French prince
By the 16th century, the wearing of smaller medals on a chain was a persistent fashion for both sexes, and a variety of medals were produced commercially for the purpose, commemorating persons or events, or just with non-specific suitable sentiments. German artists had been producing high-quality medals from the beginning of the century, while the French and British were slower to produce fine work. However, by the late 17th century, most parts of Western Europe could produce fine work. Some medals were also collected, which continues to the present day. Official medals, from which specialized military awards descended, were increasingly produced, but the real growth in military medals did not come until the 19th century.
In the East, a wide variety of medals and decorations have been given by the Ottoman Empire since the 18th century.[13]
Devotional medals became very popular in Catholic countries. Very famous is the Miraculous Medal, whose design was created based on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Catherine Labouré in Paris. In 1832, during an epidemic, the first medals were distributed, to which numerous healings and conversions were attributed, receiving the name of Miraculous Medal and distributed to millions of people around the world.[14]
During the Reformation there had also been a vigorous tradition of
Military medals and decorations
The
An
The
Military decorations, including medals and orders, are usually presented to the recipient in a formal ceremony. Medals are normally worn on more formal occasions and are suspended from a ribbon of the medal's colours on the left breast, while a corresponding
Table medals and other large forms
Medallion is a vague term, often used for larger, usually circular, medals, which might be worn as pendants round the neck. It is the correct term for such medals from the late Roman Empire, typically distributed by the emperor and bearing his image, but in later periods larger medals are best termed just as medals.
Generally circular, table medals are issued for artistic, commemoration, or souvenir purposes, not for commerce, and are too large to be plausibly worn.
The Carnegie Hero Foundation is the issuer of a bravery medal, most commonly issued in the US, Canada, and the UK. This large bronze table medal features Andrew Carnegie's likeness on the obverse and the name of the awardee and citation engraved on the reverse. It is usually issued for lifesaving incidents. In the
Also related are
Fraternal jewels
Amongst the many
Fraternal jewels may be worn as military-style medals, on ribbons, from the left breast, or more prominently on collars or collarettes as part of the organisation's regalia. Historic examples of such medals and jewels may be found in many museums, particularly museums dedicated to fraternal organisations.[17]
There is extensive trade in fraternal jewels and medals, with societies and associations existing to promote such trade, and to encourage the sharing of resources,[18] and on-line resources available to support the hobby.[19]
Different metals
Traditionally, medals are made of the following metals, in order of decreasing value[citation needed]:
- Platinum
- Gold
- Silver, or silver-gilt, which is in fact used for Olympic "gold medals"
- Bronze
- Pewter
- Copper
- Tin
- Iron
Many medals were and are made in several different metals, either representing awards for different places in a competition, or standards or classes, as with the
Medals as art
The first well-known great artist to create medals was the Italian painter Antonio Pisano, also known as
1896 Colonial Exposition medal, by Louis-Oscar Roty .
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1900 Exposition Universelle medal, by Jules-Clément Chaplain. |
See also
- Exonumia
- Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium
- List of highest military decorations
- Medalist
- Orders, decorations, and medals of Russia
- Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms
- Awards and decorations of the United States government
- Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces
- Military awards and decorations
- Medal ribbon
- Medal inflation
Notes
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "medal Archived 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine"; Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, s.v. "medal Archived 2011-11-08 at the Wayback Machine".
- ^ metallum Archived 2023-01-02 at the Wayback Machine, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus
- ^ μέταλλον Archived 2021-01-20 at the Wayback Machine, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ The New American Webster Handy College Dictionary, p. 450, Signet, 2006, on Google books
- ^ Heinemann English Dictionary, p. 623,
- ^ medal Archived 2011-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, Online Etymology Dictionary
- ^ Weitzmann, Kurt, Age of spirituality : late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century Archived 2015-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, (online as PDF), pp. 36-46, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979; Osbourne, 563
- ^ "Bracteate [Scandinavian] (2001.583)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. (October 2006) Archived 2010-11-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Constantine medal, French (Paris) Archived 2011-05-01 at the Wayback Machine (1988.133)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. Accessed July 5, 2010
- ^ Osbourne, 563-564
- ^ Scher
- ^ Osbourne, 567
- S2CID 245535051.
- ^ "The apparitions and the Miraculous Medal | Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse".
- ^ "Code of Federal Regulations". Department of the Army. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
- ^ Jewels displayed on the RAOB Archived 2016-01-21 at the Wayback Machine central website.
- ^ See this webpage Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine from the Library and Museum of Freemasonry, London.
- ^ For example, see official website of Jewels of the Craft Archived 2015-10-17 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ See, for example, Masonic Medals Archived 2015-08-01 at the Wayback Machine website.
References
- Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, 1975, OUP, ISBN 0-19-866113-4
- Stephen K. Scher, et al. "Medal." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, Subscription required, (accessed July 28, 2010).
- Weiss, B. "Collection of Historical and Commemorative Medals". [1]
Further reading
- Louis Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists (Spink & Sons, 1904–1930) is an eight volume reference in English listing medallists through history.
- Ulrich Thieme, Felix Becker, Allgemeines Lexicon der Bildenden Kùnstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart (Leipzig : 1907–1949) is a thirty six volume work in German that lists all artists without differentiating their specialty and medium like the Forrer work.
External links
- European sculpture and metalwork, a collection catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on medals (see index)
- Medals and the Royal Mint
- "American World's Fair and Expo Medals". ExpositionMedals.com.
- "Historical and Commemorative Medals". Benjamin Weiss.
- "Historical Medallions". Historical Medallions.
- "Medals of the World". Megan C. Robertson.
- "The home of British and Allied militaria". Julie McCullum's Militarium. Archived from the original on 2008-08-11.
- "The Nobel Prize Medals and the Medal for the Prize in Economics". The Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2005-04-10.
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 1–18. .