MATERIAL REVIEW.
NEW MEDALS FROM THE MINT.
WHATEVER the cause may be, whether a greater technical experience or a more intimate connexion with the traditions of coinage, it is safe to say that the Mint surpasses, in the art of medal striking, any of its private rivals. Because of this undoubted supremacy and in order that it may be held, one must criticize the productions of the Mint as rigidly as possible. Consequently, any adverse criticism of the two medals sent for review denotes a certain degree of compliment.
The obverse of the first medal—the General Service Medal for post-War operations for the Army and Air Force—is the Mackennal head of the King which appears on all coins ; while the reverse consists of a figure of Britannia holding a wreath over a victorious sword, and is designed by Mr. Carter Preston. The standing figure (always a problem in the circle) aptly fills the space, the spreading out of the wing at the right being a happy adaptation which balances well with the sword and other .symbols. I should have preferred the modelling of the figure to have been in flatter relief — the contours sloping acutely to meet the surface of the background. This treatment not only looks better, but wears longer. Mestrovic's wood-carvings in the South Kensington Museum will give some idea of the kind of treatment to which I refer. A raised rim, besides keeping the background from melting into the air, and thus losing the solidity of the metal, would also give protection to the enclosed design. The design of the bar at the top unites badly with the medal ; while its modelling catches the light with a contrast inconsistent with either the Mackennal head or the figure on the reverse.
The other medal—the new medal of the Order of the British Empire—designed by Mr. Langford Jones is, on the whole, more unified, although it, too, might have been better had the fastening to the bar been less heavily modelled and the rim more clearly struck. In the design on the reverse the drapery of the seated figure is too soft and " atmospheric " in treat- ment, while the rays of the sun are too like bristles to be either' convincing or decorative. More continuity in the spacing of the lettering would have compensated for the deficiency of the rim. The obverse, however, although simpler, is much the better side of the two. Besides being beautifully conventionalized, the border of lions forms at the same time the appropriate relationship of texture to the Royal monogram in the centre.
I understand that the Mint is willing to strike medals for unofficial customers. It seems a pity that more of the younger sculptors do not take advantage of such an opportunity to express themselves in this fascinating branch of art. It has also commercial possibilities. Those people who cannot afford a bronze or marble might be content with a medallion. Some collectors might even prefer the medallion.
W. BIcCxxcE.
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