Author Topic: Death as fisherman (Totentanz)  (Read 2264 times)

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  • Arnold (Aharon) Zadikow.  1915. 

    "Der Tod als Fischer" (Death as fisherman).  Single-sided cast bronze, approx. 70 mm (not precisely round); 67.85 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely fine).  Exceptionally rare!

    Death personified as animated, desiccated cadaver, dressed as fisherman wearing wading-boots, facing left, hauls in net with ships ensnared; year date 1915 lower right, artist's monogram encircled interlaced AZ center-right edge; raised rim.

    2nd example: Image and design as above; single-sided cast iron, lightly blackened with lightly oxidized patina, approx. 71 mm (not precisely round), 55.65 g.  Fast vorzüglich (near extremely fine), small corrosion spots along rim and edge.  Exceptionally rare!


    Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A.  2016.  Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg, p 271, 22.16 (iron example).

    Zadikow designed seven single-sided medals cast in iron and/or bronze in his "Totentanz" (Dance of Death) series.  Totentanz imagery in Central Europe dates back to the Medieval Period and is most famously exemplified in the Early Modern woodcuts of Hans Holbein.  A number of German medallists made such series during the First World War, and varied forms of the motifs continue to be used by artists today.
Death as fisherman (Totentanz)
« on: December 19, 2019, 03:31:10 AM »

Arnold (Aharon) Zadikow.  1915. 

"Der Tod als Fischer" (Death as fisherman).  Single-sided cast bronze, approx. 70 mm (not precisely round); 67.85 g.  Vorzüglich (extremely fine).  Exceptionally rare!

Death personified as animated, desiccated cadaver, dressed as fisherman wearing wading-boots, facing left, hauls in net with ships ensnared; year date 1915 lower right, artist's monogram encircled interlaced AZ center-right edge; raised rim.

2nd example: Image and design as above; single-sided cast iron, lightly blackened with lightly oxidized patina, approx. 71 mm (not precisely round), 55.65 g.  Fast vorzüglich (near extremely fine), small corrosion spots along rim and edge.  Exceptionally rare!


Cf: Klose, Dietrich O. A.  2016.  Europas Verderben 1914 1918: Deutsche und österreichische Medaillen auf den Ersten Weltkrieg, p 271, 22.16 (iron example).

Zadikow designed seven single-sided medals cast in iron and/or bronze in his "Totentanz" (Dance of Death) series.  Totentanz imagery in Central Europe dates back to the Medieval Period and is most famously exemplified in the Early Modern woodcuts of Hans Holbein.  A number of German medallists made such series during the First World War, and varied forms of the motifs continue to be used by artists today.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2019, 09:59:08 PM by Haarmann »