MODERN MEDALLION

1914

Lead Alloy, with silvered and gilt surfaceMedallion.A cast medallion, both sides identical, with a silver coating with gilding over it. A central motif of a head in profile right. The profile has a vaguely anatomical aspect, as if elements of the skull or musculature were emphasised; it is hairless and at all events does not appear to be a naturalistic portrait. A circumferential Latin legend reads: GERMANICUS NAVIGAT SOLO NULL, possibly translating as: A German never sails alone,or, in the light of comments rehearsed below, possibly 'No German sails alone'.. Paul Cannon kindly comments as follows:'I wonder if the inscriptions on this piece start at 10 o'clock and read, (beginning with a pronounced pellet) ". NULLUS GERMANICUS NAVIGAT SOLO". The 'S' of nullus is obscurred by the piercing. The same inscription occurs on a set of buttons which are on a suede lounge jacket in the Manchester City Galleries around a similar Roman style bust http://www.culturegrid.org.uk/search/5989570.html The jacket though was made in 1965. Dr Miles Lambert supplied an image of one of the buttons and they are clearly of the same origin with exactly the same style of lettering. The jacket and buttons have the accession number 1968.225'. A garden find from a post-war housing estate in Stallington, Sheffield postal area 6.It was initially suggested by this reporter that this object may be an example of Prisoner of War Art, as German and other POWs were frequently deployed to farms to work in the later part of the Second World War. The inscription suggested a naval association. Perhaps the nearest POW camp was Lodge Moor Camp, Sheffield. Initially housing Italian POW's, it later accommodated German prisoners, possibly including members of the Kriegsmarine.Paul Cannon's valuable comment regarding buttons bearing this design extends the dating for its use into the 1960s, though as a two-sided piece this particular object cannot have been intended to serve as a button. Amy Downes notes a further example found in London, correctly observing that, with two examples of medallion form and another appearance on a button, this can no longer be regarded as an idiosyncratic piece of camp art.Suggested date: Modern, 1914-1965.Diameter: 35.5mm, Thickness: 1.8mm, Weight: 11.89gms.Amy Downes kindly reports the discovery of a further example in London, and comments as follows:'Another identical object has been reported to PAS, but not added to the database. It was found in Wapping ,East London on a building site in the 1960s. Its Diameter is 35.5mm, Thickness: 1.8mm and Weight: 0.5oz. The second example may suggest that they were mass produced rather than Prisoner of War art. Phillip Attwood (British Museum) has not seen anything similar, and no other parallels have been found'.