Author Topic: Alpine troops crossing bridge  (Read 2114 times)

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  • Oskar Thiede. 1917(?).  "Tiroler Gebirgsjäger überschreiten einen Gebirgsbach"  ("alpine riflemen crossing over a mountain stream").  Single-sided cast bronze, red-brown patina, 91.6 mm, 129.22 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely fine).  Rare.

    Advancing left to right five soldiers with alpine uniforms and gear cross a wooden footbridge over a stream, first four soldiers bearing rifles, last an officer without weapon or pack, his hands in a muff; magnificent mountain peaks in the distance; in exergue artist's signature O ∙ THIEDE / 1917(? - see below).

    Cf: Die Medaille der Ostmark.  Wiener Bund für Medaillenkunst.  1938, p. 40, no. 44; pl. 39 .
    Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A. Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg.  2016. p 159: 11.25.


    Of Thiede's medals depicting soldiers' lives in wartime, the composition and landscape vista of the Southern Front make this the most aesthetically pleasing.
    Date of this medal is uncertain because the last number in the exergue at lower edge is incomplete or defective.  This lack of definition is also present in photos of other casts examined.  Two references above date it 1917, but the Leipziger Münzhandlung Heidrun Höhn catalog for Auktion 87 (2017; p. 103: lot 674), which also shows a number of related pieces, gives 1915.  Thiede's other medals or plaquettes depicting alpine troops are plainly dated 1917, the number 7 written like a slanting, backward F.  Thus a 1915 date would be an anomaly in relation to those, and examination under a loupe reveals what may be remnants of the two horizontal bars of number 7.
Alpine troops crossing bridge
« on: December 07, 2019, 04:30:26 PM »

Oskar Thiede. 1917(?).  "Tiroler Gebirgsjäger überschreiten einen Gebirgsbach"  ("alpine riflemen crossing over a mountain stream").  Single-sided cast bronze, red-brown patina, 91.6 mm, 129.22 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely fine).  Rare.

Advancing left to right five soldiers with alpine uniforms and gear cross a wooden footbridge over a stream, first four soldiers bearing rifles, last an officer without weapon or pack, his hands in a muff; magnificent mountain peaks in the distance; in exergue artist's signature O ∙ THIEDE / 1917(? - see below).

Cf: Die Medaille der Ostmark.  Wiener Bund für Medaillenkunst.  1938, p. 40, no. 44; pl. 39 .
Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A. Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg.  2016. p 159: 11.25.


Of Thiede's medals depicting soldiers' lives in wartime, the composition and landscape vista of the Southern Front make this the most aesthetically pleasing.
Date of this medal is uncertain because the last number in the exergue at lower edge is incomplete or defective.  This lack of definition is also present in photos of other casts examined.  Two references above date it 1917, but the Leipziger Münzhandlung Heidrun Höhn catalog for Auktion 87 (2017; p. 103: lot 674), which also shows a number of related pieces, gives 1915.  Thiede's other medals or plaquettes depicting alpine troops are plainly dated 1917, the number 7 written like a slanting, backward F.  Thus a 1915 date would be an anomaly in relation to those, and examination under a loupe reveals what may be remnants of the two horizontal bars of number 7.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2019, 09:45:37 PM by Haarmann »