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ITALY, Padova (Lordship). Jacopo I ‘il Grande’ da Carrara. 1318-1324. Æ Medal (72mm, 172.3 g, 12h). By an uncertain artist. Dated 1318 and 1324, though a later(?) cast of a mid-16th century original. IACOBVS GRANDIS DE CARRARIA · I · PATAVII · D · AN · MCCCXVIII ·, bust right, wearing cloth head dress / MCCC · XXIIII · · OBIIT ANN · DO ·, coat-of-arms surmounted by helmet crested with flowers and draped by floral garland. W.T.R. Marvin, “The Carrara Medals,” in AJN XIV.3 (January 1880), p. 66-67 and fig. 1 = The Carrara Medals (Boston, 1880), p. 4 and fig. 1 (this medal); Hill 1241. Brown surfaces, chased. EF. Very rare.
From the J. Eric Engstrom Collection. Ex J. Henri Ripstra Collection (William O. Coats Auction, 13 February 1975), lot 1629; Mrs. Thomas Warner Collection (S.H. & H. Chapman, 17 July 1891), lot 1314 (part of); S.H. & H. Chapman (9 April 1886), lot 2324 (part of); Thomas O. Warner Collection (S.H. & H. Chapman, 9 June 1884), lot 467 (part of).
This fascinating series of medals was likely produced in the mid-16th century by a branch of the Carrara dynasty, the Papafava family of Venice, to glorify their pedigree. The set offered here is lacking only one piece, which was sold in our Electronic Auction 561. All of the Carrara medals in the Engstrom Collection can be traced back to the Thomas O. Warner Collection, published in the American Journal of Numismatics in January 1880 and offered in the sale of his collection by S.H. & H. Chapman in 1884, where the entire 1880 article was reproduced in full. The lot brought $2.60, an unexpectedly low price according to the American Journal of Numismatics, who wrote,“which we consider ridiculously low, considering the rarity of some of them.” (AJN XIX.2 [October 1884]).
As with many medals of the Italian renaissance, the bronzes in this Carrara family set are all cast and mostly chased, at least to some degree. Determining which are original or contemporary casts is all but impossible. This cataloger could find no mention of any struck examples. Additionally, considering the rarity of the series as a whole, it does not appear that they were widely recast in the following centuries. With this in mind, Engstrom’s Carrara medals should probably be considered original or near-contemporary casts. Two from this group have a pale brown to tan patina, while five exhibit brown to green-brown surfaces, possibly suggesting contemporary and later castings, though no suggestion can be made as to which is which. When this set appeared in subsequent Chapman sales in 1886 and 1891, they were described as “reproductions,” but this is likely based on the probably erroneous assumptions that the original medals were all struck.
Closing Date and Time: 5 June 2024 at 16:16:00 ET.
All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer’s fee.
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