The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 | Page 8

medal: "Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque
tyrannis."
The four pieces executed by Duvivier are no less remarkable for beauty
and excellence of workmanship. They all figured at the exhibitions of
the members of the Royal Academy of Paris, that of the Chevalier de
Fleury, as mentioned before, in the exhibition of 1781, and those of of
General and of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Howard, in that of 1789.[11]
[Footnote 11: See G, page xlv.]
In those by Gatteaux, the personification of America as an Indian queen
with an alligator at her feet is noteworthy.
With the exception of the Treaty of Commerce medal (1822), and
perhaps of that of Captain Truxtun, our medals after the War of
Independence were engraved and struck at home. Before that time,
indeed, the one voted in 1779 to Major Henry Lee had been made by
John Wright, of Philadelphia. From the close of the eighteenth century

down to (p. xxiv) 1840 John Reich and subsequently Moritz Fürst were
the engravers of the national medals. Reich's works are valued;
unfortunately they are few in number. They consist of the medal voted
in 1805 to Captain Edward Preble for his naval operations against
Tripoli, of another voted in 1813 to Captain Isaac Hull for the capture
of the British frigate Guerrière, and of those of Presidents Jefferson and
Madison. That of President Jefferson especially deserves attention for
its beauty.
But little can be said in commendation of the works of Fürst, whose
numerous medals are very inferior to Reich's, and still less worthy of
being compared with those of the French engravers. While wishing to
avoid undue severity, I cannot but endorse the opinion of General Scott,
given in a communication addressed to the Honorable William L.
Marcy, Secretary of War, in regard to the medal voted to General
Zachary Taylor, for victories on the Rio Grande:
To the Honourable HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, William L.
MARCY, Washington, July 25, 1846. Secretary of War.
As medals are among the surest monuments of history, as well as
muniments of individual distinction, there should be given to them,
besides intrinsic value and durability of material, the utmost grace of
design, with the highest finish in mechanical execution. All this is
necessary to give the greater or adventitious value; as in the present
instance, the medal is to be, at once, an historical record and a reward
of distinguished merit. The credit of the donor thus becomes even more
than that of the receiver interested in obtaining a perfect specimen in
the fine arts.
The within resolution prescribes gold as the material of the medal. The
general form (circular) may be considered as equally settled by our own
practice, and that of most nations, ancient and modern. There is,
however, some little diversity in diameter and thickness in the medals
heretofore ordered (p. xxv) by Congress, at different periods, as may be
seen in the cabinets of the War and Navy Departments. Diversity in
dimensions is even greater in other countries.

The specific character of the medal is shown by its two faces, or the
face and the reverse. The within resolution directs appropriate devices
and inscriptions thereon.
For the face, a bust likeness is needed, to give, with the name and the
rank of the donee, individuality. To obtain the likeness, a first-rate
miniature painter should, of course, be employed.
The reverse receives the device, appropriate to the events
commemorated. To obtain this, it is suggested that the resolutions and
despatches, belonging to the subject, be transmitted to a master in the
art of design--say Prof. Weir, at West Point--for a drawing--including,
if practicable, this inscription:
PALO ALTO; RESACA DE LA PALMA: MAY 8 AND 9, 1846.
A third artist--all to be well paid--is next to be employed--a die-sinker.
The mint of the United States will do the coinage.
Copies, in cheaper metal, of all our gold medals, should be given to the
libraries of the Federal and State Governments, to those of the colleges,
etc.
The medals voted by the Revolutionary Congress were
executed--designs and dies--under the superintendence of Mr.
Jefferson,[12] in Paris, about the year 1786. Those struck in honour of
victories, in our War of 1812, were all--at least so far as it respected the
land service--done at home, and not one of them presented, I think,
earlier than the end of Mr. Monroe's administration (1825). The delay
principally resulted from the want of good die-sinkers. There was only
one of mediocre merit (and he a foreigner) found for the army. What
the state of this art may now be in the United States I know not. But I
beg leave again to suggest that the honour of the country requires that
medals, voted by Congress, should always exhibit the arts involved, in
their highest state of perfection