102032 | GERMANY & WESTERN EUROPE. Entente satirical cast iron Medal.

102032  |  GERMANY, GREAT BRITAIN & WESTERN EUROPE. Entente satirical cast iron Medal. Issued 1917. "England and her subjects" (70mm, 77.51 g, 12h). By H. Harders for R. Ball in Berlin.

 

Figure of John Bull (England) seated facing on base, wearing hat inscribed with a pound sign (£) and holding nine ropes on the ends of which are the heads of her allies: FRANKREICH (France), BELGIEN (Belgium), PORTUGAL, JAPAN, ITALIEN (Italy), MONTENEGRO, SERBIEN (Serbia), RUMANIEN (Romania), and RUSSLAND (Russia), with various localized caricatures; base inscribed with "ENGLAND / UND SEINE / KNECHTE" (England and her subjects) in three lines / Representations of the entente (the same allies from the obverse) as caricatured soldiers being lead right; ЄNTЄNTЄ in exergue. Edge: Some light filing marks, as made.

 

Klose –; Art of Devastation –; Frankenhuis –; BDM VII, 417. Choice Mint State. Deep gray-brown surfaces, with a charming matte nature. A fairly rare and interesting satirical issue from the perspective of Germany.

 

Dripping with satire, this issue from the German perspective presents England as seemingly the puppetmaster of the Entente during World War I, with the caricatured heads of the various allied nations stringed to the control of John Bull, the allegorical representation of England. Furthering the insinuation, the depiction of the pound sign (£) on the hat of John Bull points to a financial gain for those allied with England against Germany in the war.

 

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