101039 | GERMANY. "Death and the Zeppelin" uniface cast iron Medal.

101039 | GERMANY. "Death and the Zeppelin" uniface cast iron Medal. Issued 1915. World War I series (73mm, 93.03 g). By A. Zadikow.

 

Death (as a grotesque skeletal puppet master) seated right, orchestrating two zeppelins and a parashooter to upper right / Blank. Edge: Plain.

 

Hans Kaiser 418; Jones, Dance of Death, 32; The Art of Devastation –. Essentially as cast. Light reddish-brown surfaces. Extremely rare and interesting type at the intersection of skeleton, aviation, and World War I themes.

 

Similar to the Walther Eberbach Totentanz (Dance of Death) series of medals—featuring a skeletal representation of Death gleefully taking part in the various forms of chaos and destruction during World War I—Arnold Zadikow produced a similar series with Death in any number of grotesque activities. In the case of this piece, the zeppelins used during the campaigns of London, for example, where their bombings killed over 500 citizens, are seen as being guided directly by the hand of Death.