Author Topic: Mackensen  (Read 2316 times)

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  • Benno Elkan.  (1916?).  ●MACKENSEN●.  Cast iron, lightly blackened, patina resembling bronze, 79 mm, 179.09 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely-fine), light oxidized spotting reverse, cleaned and stabilized.  Scarce.

    Obverse: High relief profile portrait in military collar to left filling almost the entire field; two-line artist's signature BENNO / ELKAN at lower right behind subject's neck; raised rim integral with subject's shoulder along lower edge. 

    Reverse: Full-length frontal figure of a Titan clad in an animal skin, striding left to right, with both hands preparing to swing a massive battle-hammer (Streithammer) from left t; artist's initials B・E・ in center field between figure's ankles; title inscription in exergue; along lower edge publisher's mark VERL∙BALL・BERLIN (Verleger [publisher] [Robert] Ball, Berlin); raised rim contiguous with exergue.

    Cf:Schulman, La Guerre Européenne, Catalogue LXV 1916, p. 72, 726 (iron example).
    Cf: Frankenhuis, M.  Catalogue of Medals - Medalets and Plaques relative to the World War 1914 - 1919, p. 132: 1049.

    For a bronze example in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Münzkabinett, see Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Acc. 1919/973, Objekt-Nr: 18242565 https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?lang=en&id=18242565&view=vs.


    Though this medal bears neither date nor information beyond the subject’s family name, the profile portrait is identical with Elkan's other portrait medal of Mackensen celebrating his triumph at Gorlice, dated 1915, which displays the cross of the Pour le Mérite (awarded 27 Nov 1914) and lists his rank of Field Marshall conferred (22 Jun 1915) shortly after major successes in the Galician offensive (for an example in the Berliner Münzkabinett https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?lang=en&id=18242567&view=vs).  Both medals were doubtless made from the clay model sculpted from life by Elkan during his war-service in Poland (Menzel-Severing, H., Der Bildhauer Benno Elkan, Dortmund 1980, pp. 22 - 23) which is in the inventory of the Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund (Menzel-Severing, p. 213).  The sculptor's account of this model's production was published in Elkan, Benno. 1918.  Polnische Nachtstücke, Delphin Verlag, München, pp. 17 - 51.The earliest published reference for the present medal is the Schulman catalogue cited above, published in April 1916, so it is likely that it is a later "generic" portrait commemorating not a particular battle, but rather Mackensen's continuing series of victories in the Eastern Theatre.
Mackensen
« on: December 05, 2019, 03:11:36 AM »

Benno Elkan.  (1916?).  ●MACKENSEN●.  Cast iron, lightly blackened, patina resembling bronze, 79 mm, 179.09 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely-fine), light oxidized spotting reverse, cleaned and stabilized.  Scarce.

Obverse: High relief profile portrait in military collar to left filling almost the entire field; two-line artist's signature BENNO / ELKAN at lower right behind subject's neck; raised rim integral with subject's shoulder along lower edge. 

Reverse: Full-length frontal figure of a Titan clad in an animal skin, striding left to right, with both hands preparing to swing a massive battle-hammer (Streithammer) from left t; artist's initials B・E・ in center field between figure's ankles; title inscription in exergue; along lower edge publisher's mark VERL∙BALL・BERLIN (Verleger [publisher] [Robert] Ball, Berlin); raised rim contiguous with exergue.

Cf:Schulman, La Guerre Européenne, Catalogue LXV 1916, p. 72, 726 (iron example).
Cf: Frankenhuis, M.  Catalogue of Medals - Medalets and Plaques relative to the World War 1914 - 1919, p. 132: 1049.

For a bronze example in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Münzkabinett, see Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Acc. 1919/973, Objekt-Nr: 18242565 https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?lang=en&id=18242565&view=vs.


Though this medal bears neither date nor information beyond the subject’s family name, the profile portrait is identical with Elkan's other portrait medal of Mackensen celebrating his triumph at Gorlice, dated 1915, which displays the cross of the Pour le Mérite (awarded 27 Nov 1914) and lists his rank of Field Marshall conferred (22 Jun 1915) shortly after major successes in the Galician offensive (for an example in the Berliner Münzkabinett https://ikmk.smb.museum/object?lang=en&id=18242567&view=vs).  Both medals were doubtless made from the clay model sculpted from life by Elkan during his war-service in Poland (Menzel-Severing, H., Der Bildhauer Benno Elkan, Dortmund 1980, pp. 22 - 23) which is in the inventory of the Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund (Menzel-Severing, p. 213).  The sculptor's account of this model's production was published in Elkan, Benno. 1918.  Polnische Nachtstücke, Delphin Verlag, München, pp. 17 - 51.The earliest published reference for the present medal is the Schulman catalogue cited above, published in April 1916, so it is likely that it is a later "generic" portrait commemorating not a particular battle, but rather Mackensen's continuing series of victories in the Eastern Theatre.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2019, 09:56:37 PM by Haarmann »