WVZ 112 a -1915
Same as WVZ 112 in Cast Bronze,
mounting with loop, 47mm X 43.8mm ,
Signed L-G, Undated UNIQUE
This was created due to the events of the First Great War years on the eastern front when Russian troops occupied East Prussia and were fought back in February 1915. Gies‘ artistic reaction dealt, (except the similar to WVZ 108 political examples), with the escape and suffering of the civil population. Stylistically, developments and occasional dates (1914, 1915) point to the origin within the first half of the year 1915 and refer very little to actual historical events at that time.
Obverse:
Lightly convex field with multiple stepped, raised edge and lower segment; motif and lettering plastically raised. In the middle a cooker with ruinous, yet smoking chimney; on the right a young female with long hair, holding a swaddled baby, to the left of her two children sitting on the cookers brink, to her feet right a little girl and left a cat arching its back). On the left an old bearded man, a little child holding his left hand with both her hands. Signed in the segment with L*G.
Reverse:
Lightly convex field with multiple stepped, raised edge and lower segment; motif and lettering plastically raised. A craned quadrate, empty tablet, above a German Pickelhaube, the chinstrap entwined with a wreath, a garland of leaves lying across the tablet’s corners. Inside the garland-semicircle:
ANDENKEN A. * D.WELTKRIEG
Nachweis: Privatbesitz (1 Exemplar) This means: There is currently 1 piece known to the author, in private property.
The present example (the depicted one in Ernsting) is an imperfect, unchased iron cast with non-drilled mounting. The example of the collection Frankenhuis in Ramat Aviv, Kadman Numismatic Museum is no longer there (most probably lost). The depiction in Wolf (Wolf 1915, Kriegs und Trauerschmuck) shows a chased example with drilled mounting and fixed loop.
Ernsting’s only information on this piece is referring to a book/reference, or perhaps an advertising brochure by: Gies, “Kriegsmedaillen und Schmuckstücke”, die Plastik 6, München 1916, war-medals and pieces of jewelry, bronze and silver, (chapter) the sculpture 6, Munich 1916
Anhängsel, Flüchtlinge“: Silber Pendant, refugees“: silver
Obviously in that reference this piece, in silver, was depicted (obverse only) and Ernsting used this depiction for the current reference also. Further he states: “Kein Exemplar in Bronze oder Silber nachgewiesen” So he never identified one of these (except the silver one depicted in the 1916 reference) and didn’t know if it existed when his reference book was published in 1995. The piece below has surfaced since and does indeed exist as it now resides in my collection. A museum piece by all rights.
