Adolph A. Weinman (German/American, 1870-1952), Rare Bronze Plaque of The Charge, Wyman Park Monument

Lot Details & Additional Photographs

Uniface patinated bronze bas-relief plaque, the lower right impressed "A.A. WEINMAN - FECIT - MCMIX," galvanic reduction likely made by Medallic Art Company's founding brothers Henri and Felix Weil, after the carved stone bas-relief scene sculpted to the north side of the Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument pedestal located in Wyman Park, Baltimore, Maryland, the verso with two integral screw holes for mounting. Includes custom frame with matting and glass.

Plaque 5 1/8 x 7 in.; frame 8 3/4 x 10 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.

A rare opportunity for medal, numismatic, and historical collectors, as very few of these are known to have been made. Another version of this was offered as a galvano silver plaque at Stacks & Bowers, August 2018 ANA - Session 2 - U.S. Coins Part 1, Lot 67. The companion piece of the Naval Attack relief in bronze was offered more recently there in their Spring 2024 Auction - Session 2 - Numismatic Americana, Lot 2238.

The Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument comprises a carved stone pedestal, rendering two dynamic battle scenes on the north and south sides. Known as "The Charge," the north side and scene in this Lot depicts the Infantry and the Cavalry rushing forward as a unified front with sabers raised over a battlefield. The south side depicts a multi figural naval attack composition. The pedestal is surmounted by a large bronze figure group depicting a uniformed Union Civil War soldier turning from his plow and anvil, alongside allegorical female figures, Victory and Bellona. Weinman created this heroic piece as an allegorical narrative to honor Maryland's military personnel who served during the Civil War as indicated by the carved inscription between the two reliefs: "Erected by the State of Maryland to commemorate the patriotism and heroic courage of her sons who on land and sea fought for the preservation of the federal Union in the Civil War 1861–1865." Rising 12 feet tall, the monument's erection was authorized by the General Assembly of Maryland on April 5, 1906, and was erected by the State of Maryland in 1909 at the Mt. Royal entrance to Druid Hill Park, but it was moved to its current site in 1959.

Weinman himself exhibited a bronze version of this plaque mounted on wood at the 1910 International Exhibition of Contemporary Medals held by the American Numismatic Society, and a bronze version of the naval plaque from the Maryland Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument was given to the ANS by Weinman's son, Robert A. Weinman, also a noted sculptor.

Some areas of rubbing to the patina; plaque edges with a few small dents.