Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
Collector's Choice October 2021 Auction 12-14 Oct 2021
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AUSTRIA. Viennese Journeyman's Exhibition Bronze Medal, 1860. GEM UNCIRCULATED.
Diameter: 43mm; Weight: 27.04 gms. Issued for the First Commercial Exhibition for the Association of Viennese Craftsmen. Obverse: GOTT SEGNE DAS EHRBARE HANDWERK (God bless the honorable craft), draped bust of St. Joseph left, holding carpenter's square, compass, and lily; SCT: - JOSEPH in nimbus crown; Reverse: ERSTE GEWERBLICHE AUSTELLUNG DES WIENER GESELEN VEREINS in seven lines. Edge: Plain. Chocolate brown surfaces, with highly lustrous and prooflike fields and a few light spots.
Diameter: 43mm; Weight: 27.04 gms. Issued for the First Commercial Exhibition for the Association of Viennese Craftsmen. Obverse: GOTT SEGNE DAS EHRBARE HANDWERK (God bless the honorable craft), draped bust of St. Joseph left, holding carpenter's square, compass, and lily; SCT: - JOSEPH in nimbus crown; Reverse: ERSTE GEWERBLICHE AUSTELLUNG DES WIENER GESELEN VEREINS in seven lines. Edge: Plain. Chocolate brown surfaces, with highly lustrous and prooflike fields and a few light spots.
Journeymen were craftsmen and tradesmen who had successfully served as an apprentice under a master craftsman, learning and cultivating their craft, but not yet attaining their own business. Essentially serving as freelancers, they moved from town to town, taking on jobs and furthering their experience. Owing to their daily salary, the word in English came from the French journée, meaning "day." St. Joseph serves as the patron saint to craftsmen, and is often depicted with the attributes of a carpenter's square and lily, as on this medal.
Estimate: $75 - $150