Featured Tiffany & Co. Elliott National Academy of Design 1875 First Prize Medal w/ Box!

The other day I stopped in a local coin shop which had a weekly bid board ending then. After looking over the lots on the wall and not seeing too much that I really wanted to bid on, I looked over the large lots and expensive coins which are kept in one of the glass cases instead of being hung up on the bid board. One lot that caught my eye was the following medal, sorry the photos are so dark, was doing the best I could with a borrowed camera set up:






After deciding not to bid on any of the usual corroded Indian Cents, various overpriced junk silver and modern commemoratives that fill most of the bid board, I decided to go for this medal so that I would at least win something! My thinking at the time was that the owner of the shop strongly felt the medal was silver and indicated the medal weighed 4.8 ounces. He didn’t test the medal for silver content since he didn’t want to damage it, but revealed that he bought the piece from a walk in to his shop for silver melt value. In looking at the piece I agreed that it looked to be silver based on the color and the look of the toning on the piece. I did the math quickly in my head and figured it to be worth at least $170 or so in silver. I also the medal was really cool in that it was pretty old, made by Tiffany & Co and it had the original box with it, even though the box was pretty beat up. I also thought it could be pretty fun to try to research this item because I had no idea who Elliott was on the obverse, nor did I have any knowledge of the individual being awarded this medal, nor did I know what the winner had done to win this medal.

As the bid deadline approached, only myself and one other person were actively bidding on this medal. We were both standing near the bid tag for the medal and every 10-15 seconds or so the underbidder would mark their new bid, bumping the item up in $10 increments from the initial starting price of $150. I was very happy that my competitor finally dropped out of the running with less than a minute of bidding to go and the medal was mine.

After getting the medal home, studying it for awhile and doing some Internet research, I have found out the following information:

The medal is in an old box made of wood and wrapped in leather. As you can see, the box is damaged and the original hinge is completely broken off and missing. The inside cover of the box reads “Tiffany & Co. New York” in gold lettering printed on what I think is a light blue silk.

Although I do not know for sure, the medal does appear to be silver and has mirrored fields which look like an old proof. Even the edge of the medal, which is smooth and has no lettering or marks, is also mirrored proof-like. The medal is 2.5” in diameter and actually weighs in at 5.3 ounces (about half an ounce more than the shop owner told me). The fields of the medal on both sides are hairlined, but the medal also has some pretty neat toning on the surfaces.

The obverse of the medal features a very high relief portrait of Charles Loring Elliott (1812-1868) who was an American painter and considered the best portraitist of his day and the date 1870 (perhaps the date the medal was made?).

Charles Loring Elliott in his younger years


At the base of Elliott it says “W Barber F.” which I assume is for William Barber (1807-1879) who was a director of the U.S. Mint, designer of the Trade Dollar and father of Charles E. Barber who is best known for designing Barber coinage which started up in 1892. I have not figured out what the “F” stands for in this signature.

The reverse of the medal carries the legend “National Academy of Design New York” which surrounds a wreath. Inside the wreath is an engraving which reads “To Lloyd Branson Antique School First Prize 1875.”

The National Academy of Design in New York, now known as the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, was founded in 1825 “to promote the fine arts in America through instruction and exhibition.” Starting in 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions of work by living artists. Today, this annual exhibition is still held by the Academy and is the longest running exhibition of contemporary art in America. It appears the medal I just bought is a First Prize award medal from the 1875 exhibition.

My next step was to research the winner of this First Prize medal, Lloyd Branson. At first I thought it read Bronson… but I eventually figured out it was Branson. Anyways, the medal was awarded to Enoch Lloyd Branson (1853-1925) who was an artist who was best known for his portraits of Southern politicians and depictions of early Tennessee and the Appalachian frontier. Many of the sources on Branson refer to his education at the National Academy of Design in New York and many sources note is first prize win in 1875 for a drawing of a Greek gladiator. I have not been able to find any images of his winning work. From his Wikipedia entry, it appears that winning first prize also earned him a scholarship to receive further training in Paris.

Enoch Lloyd Branson in 1911


I then searched the Internet to see if I could find any other Tiffany 1870 Elliott medals. I tried several searches and was only able to find two other examples. One is a bronze example which is housed in the Brooklyn Museum. The medal appears identical to mine other than the composition and lack of a personal engraving on the reverse. This medal appears to have no box and the museum website also does not attribute the medal as being made by Tiffany & Co.



You can see the Brooklyn Museum page on the medal here: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4873/Charles_Loring_Elliott_Medal

To my amazement and quite obviously with a great deal of luck, the only other 1870 Elliott Medal I was able to find in searching the Internet just happened to be the Second Prize medal from the same 1875 Antique School competition! The Second Prize medal appears to be made of bronze and was awarded to Theodore Robinson (1852-1896) who was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes. In my quick research, even though Robinson won second prize to Branson in the 1875 exhibition, it appears that Robinson was somewhat more successful as an artist and seems to be better known today.




This bronze medal also looks to be a match to the example in the Brooklyn Museum except for the added reverse engraving. This piece also has a box that appears to match the box of my piece, only in better condition and with green interior instead of blue (perhaps that is just the lighting?). This Second Prize medal was auctioned by Bunte Auction Services, Inc. on September 25, 2005 (Lot 1400F) and was sold for $4,000 (not including the buyer’s premium)!! Of course, I realize the auction price may be more related to the popularity of the recipient of the award, Mr. Robinson, than to the rarity of the medal itself.

You can see the auction information on the Robinson Second Prize medal here:
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/1238040

At this time, I still do not know if I have a medal that’s worth its melt value (and am still not 100% sure it’s even silver!) or if I have a medal worth thousands of dollars. In any event, I already know a great deal more than I knew at the time of purchase. I also feel that I got a great deal on this medal as I know that I have already had enough fun with this medal to know I received my money’s worth!

Anyways, thought some of you might enjoy the story and the medal. And maybe some of you may have some additional information regarding this piece or other prize medals made by Tiffany & Co. during this time?


:thumb:

 

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Nice post! I have seen that co's products on the anique roadshow for much money! :smile

 

cool.

 

Congratulations!
Fascinating story and a very cool medal. If the second place medal is bronze I would bet the farm on the first place medal being silver.

 

Wow, nice grab!

Congrats.

 

I agree completely with midas1, and feel you got a very rare medal for a great price. Congratulations!

 

Wow, what a fantastic history lesson in regard to your beautiful medal Illinni! Like midas says, if the second place medal is bronze yours must be silver. Whatever the case though, I think you picked up a great piece of history, and probably at a bargain. I congratulate you on your research effort as well. As one who researches almost everything I buy, I know how time consuming and frustrating it can be...but also how rewarding. Congratulations on your pickup and thanks for posting it.

Bruce

 

Great find and excellent research.

 

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. I posted the same post over on Collectors Universe and a few members there help me out with the following information.

The "F" which follows W Barber at the base of the obverse portrait stands for "Fecit" which means "I made it"

Also, the 1870 Elliott medal is listed in the book Medals of the U.S. Mint by Julian and is cataloged as AM-50. Accordingly, it is likely that the medal was not made by Tiffany & Co., but was instead made by the U.S. Mint. It is probable that the box was purchased from Tiffany & Co. for the presentation of the medals to the winners of the Academy exhibitions. The book also lists that examples of the AM-50 medal were made in both silver and bronze.


Until today, I didn't even think of searching eBay for any other medals similar to my new purchase. Just so happens that a pair of First Prize and Second Prize medals from the same National Academy of Design are being auctioned right now and ending today. The medals are of a different design, with Suydam on the obverse but they are still dated 1870. The First Prize medal from the 1916 exhibition is silver and the Second Prize medal from the 1919 exhibition is bronze. Both medals were won by Maxwell Simpson and neither appears to come with any box. I don't know the seller and I'm not a bidder, but here are the links if anyone would like to check them out:

First Prize 1916 Silver Medal

Second Prize 1919 Bronze Medal

 

I believe the "F" after Barber's name is the Latin for the word "fabricator". . . fabricius or something like that.

 

The tone of the metal in these photos looks to be silver and looks like someone at one time was very proud of this metal as the hairlines in the fields were prob from them wipeing it with a cloth, Nice Metal ! Looks like you posted about a year ago, Have you any more info since then?

 

Since originally posting this story I was able to confirm the medal is silver, was designed by William Barber and they were struck by the U.S. Mint for the National Academy of Design. It appears most likely that the medals were delivered to the National Academy of Design unengraved. Then, after the competition, it appears the medals were sent to Tiffany & Co. for engraving.After making the post about the medal, I was contacted by a couple of museums about the piece, one who was very interested in the medal as a piece about Charles Loring Elliott and others because it was won by Lloyd Branson. I was also contacted by a few art collectors who wanted to add the piece to their collections.Right now, the medal is being exhibited in Knoxville, TN at the East Tennessee History Center as part of an exhibit that is running about East Tennesse Art and Artists. I'll update the original thread with this information and some photos of the exhibit when I have a chance. :thumb:

 

I saw that Peter recently put this post as one of the featured posts again which was cool. I then noticed that I never gave an update as I had promised in my prior post.

Here are some photos the museum sent me of the exhibit the medal was in during 2012:











While the exhibit at the museum was running, I was contacted by a couple collectors and a couple of museums who expressed interest in acquiring the medal once the exhibit was finished. I briefly thought about putting it in an auction to see who really wanted it the most.

While the piece was at the museum, I was also contacted by some descendants of Lloyd Branson who were putting together a book about Branson who wanted to photo the medal for the book. I of course consented and about a year later I was given a copy of a really nice book "The Art of Lloyd Branson - A Family Connection" and was told it was one of only 100 produced. Pretty cool!

Ultimately, I decided to donate the piece to the East Tennessee Historical Society who put the exhibit together as they were the first to show interest in the piece and I thought they would be in the best position to care for it and make sure everyone else had access to it if needed.

Wish I could find something this cool in every local coin shop!!!

 

These appear on banknotes and other artwork as well. Here are the definitions to my knowledge, and I suspect they are the same for coins:
INV: (Latin: invenit, French: a inventé) the original artist
DEL: (Latin: delineavit, French: a dessiné), producer of the definitive sketch of the design
SC: (Latin: sculpsit, French: a sculpté), engraver of the plate (or other medium for printing)
FEC: (Latin: fecit, French: a fait), "he made it" - a broader term used when one person has the role of both INV and DEL

 

Thanks for the info, Dave. Good to know!

 

I have seen word fecit used on a medal before so it probably means fecit.

 

Beautiful medal. As a medal collector, I am envious.

 

I have one. [ Edited by moderator ]

 

This is against forum rules, and I'm sure won't last long.