Hans Volkert 1916 (1915?)
"War to the knife." Single-sided cast iron, lightly oxidized patina, 48.9 mm, 33.72 g. Vorzüglich (extremely fine).
Bust profile caricature portrait of soldier in open-collar uniform and field cap (
Feldmütze) to right with knife between lips, blade pointing right; artist's initials ligatured HV lower left, inscribed year-dates 1914\16 lower right.
Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A. 2016. Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg, p 158: 11.23 (bronze double-sided example).Soldier caricature similar to other medals depicting "
Deutscher Michel" (German Michael), a popular cultural representation of the German people, though here wearing an army field cap rather than his usual nightcap.
The reverse of the bi-faced issue of the medal shows the head of the Bavarian Lion with a dialect greeting as legend. Although cast with date 1916, an example is described (without illustration) in a 1915 numismatic journal (Blätter für Münzfreunde 1915, Sp. 5881 - see Klose, p. 158). Did the artist pre-date this medal, certain that the war would continue into the next year?
