DOI Heft:
No. 37 (April, 1896)
DOI Artikel:S., E. B.: Oscar Roty and the art of the medallist
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17296#0175
Oscar Roty and the Art of the Medallist
and another showing an Elizabethan man-of-war,
both by Mr. Onslow Ford, came more near the
ideal. The accepted designs are (or ought to be)
in everybody's pocket, so that we need not describe
them ; but anything less dignified than the heraldic
arrangements of the obverse it would be hard to
match. The neat engraving of the heraldic en-
graver's ex libris is no worse. For in decoration,
especially on so small a scale, a petty finish of the
details is absolutely destructive to the breadth of
the design. Compare this with the well-known
reverse of a Deka-drachm by Euainetos (b.c.
405-345), with its " Quadriga, horses galloping to
left; above victory crowning charioteer, in exergue,
suit of defensive armour " (to quote the catalogue
description), or even with the St. George of the
present sovereign, and the difference between the true
finish suitable for bas-relief in miniature and the false
elaboration of petty detail, is so obvious that it need
not be insisted upon.
One feature, the absence of a rim or frame,
which is noticeable in many early coins, exposing
consequently an increased surface to abrasion, can
hardly be preserved under present conditions.
FROM THE ORIGINAL BY OSCAR ROTY
This same rim is also of practical use in piling
coins on each other. But surely it cannot be
essential that it should be reduced merely to a
keen edge, to make room for the legend in raised
letters which now invariably runs around the boun-
dary of the circle. In English coins of the last
century one finds this rim, a wide frame with
160
incised letters upon it, at once equally practical
and more beautiful. But the point specially note-
worthy in designing coins is one that M. Roty has
employed so admirably in his medallions, that this
digression is not so far away from the theme as it
might seem at first glance. The space left at
either side of a bust, whether full face or a profile,
has in all ages afforded opportunity for lettering
with most admirably decorative results. By placing
the legend in horizontal lines here you increase
FROM THE ORIGINAL BY OSCAR ROTY
the field of the panel, and consequently make
practicable a larger scale for the bust. The ad-
vantage gained by placing the rigid angular lines of
the Roman alphabet in direct contrast to the curves
of the portrait is another matter of first-rate im-
portance. Hardly any modern painter or designer
of eminence to-day has overlooked the value of
well-placed formal and symmetric lettering. In-
deed, were these beautiful medallions of M. Oscar
Roty merely tentative amateur attempts, provided
they occupied a similar space in the panel and the
lettering was preserved exactly as it is, they would
still be admirably decorative. For their purpose
as commemorative medallions one could heap up
superlative on superlative, and yet hardly praise
them too highly. But at best medallions are
likely to be produced in comparatively small
numbers, and it is for their object lessons to
designers of coins, postage stamps and the like,
that these delightful works deserve far more than
and another showing an Elizabethan man-of-war,
both by Mr. Onslow Ford, came more near the
ideal. The accepted designs are (or ought to be)
in everybody's pocket, so that we need not describe
them ; but anything less dignified than the heraldic
arrangements of the obverse it would be hard to
match. The neat engraving of the heraldic en-
graver's ex libris is no worse. For in decoration,
especially on so small a scale, a petty finish of the
details is absolutely destructive to the breadth of
the design. Compare this with the well-known
reverse of a Deka-drachm by Euainetos (b.c.
405-345), with its " Quadriga, horses galloping to
left; above victory crowning charioteer, in exergue,
suit of defensive armour " (to quote the catalogue
description), or even with the St. George of the
present sovereign, and the difference between the true
finish suitable for bas-relief in miniature and the false
elaboration of petty detail, is so obvious that it need
not be insisted upon.
One feature, the absence of a rim or frame,
which is noticeable in many early coins, exposing
consequently an increased surface to abrasion, can
hardly be preserved under present conditions.
FROM THE ORIGINAL BY OSCAR ROTY
This same rim is also of practical use in piling
coins on each other. But surely it cannot be
essential that it should be reduced merely to a
keen edge, to make room for the legend in raised
letters which now invariably runs around the boun-
dary of the circle. In English coins of the last
century one finds this rim, a wide frame with
160
incised letters upon it, at once equally practical
and more beautiful. But the point specially note-
worthy in designing coins is one that M. Roty has
employed so admirably in his medallions, that this
digression is not so far away from the theme as it
might seem at first glance. The space left at
either side of a bust, whether full face or a profile,
has in all ages afforded opportunity for lettering
with most admirably decorative results. By placing
the legend in horizontal lines here you increase
FROM THE ORIGINAL BY OSCAR ROTY
the field of the panel, and consequently make
practicable a larger scale for the bust. The ad-
vantage gained by placing the rigid angular lines of
the Roman alphabet in direct contrast to the curves
of the portrait is another matter of first-rate im-
portance. Hardly any modern painter or designer
of eminence to-day has overlooked the value of
well-placed formal and symmetric lettering. In-
deed, were these beautiful medallions of M. Oscar
Roty merely tentative amateur attempts, provided
they occupied a similar space in the panel and the
lettering was preserved exactly as it is, they would
still be admirably decorative. For their purpose
as commemorative medallions one could heap up
superlative on superlative, and yet hardly praise
them too highly. But at best medallions are
likely to be produced in comparatively small
numbers, and it is for their object lessons to
designers of coins, postage stamps and the like,
that these delightful works deserve far more than