On View
Not on viewAwards
Artist
Malvina Hoffman
1887 - 1966
Date1963
Terms
- Awards
- Bronze
- New York
Dimensions4.44 cm (1 3/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of the Cummings Davis Society (2003)
Object number2003.4
DescriptionCommemorative medal (coin), designed by Malvina Hoffman (b. 1887); manufactured by The Medallic Art Company. On the obverse, a profile bust of Thoreau, marked M. Hoffman on the shoulder, within the inscription "Henry David Thoreau/ 1817/ 1862"; on the reverse, relief of a view of Walden with the inscription "Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University" and within the relief view, "Only that day dawns to which we are awake." Also, "© 1963." In the original box, with explanatory brochure.
From enclosed brochure: "Thoreau's prolific writing known as his Journal was of great assistance to me in learning about the character of the man. I also consulted people who had written eloquently about him, and I studied some portraits made of him during his lifetime. The fact that he was shown in some bas-relief plaques wearing a beard I found was not representative of him except during a short period of two years, so I preferred to concentrate on the man's clean-cut Yankee features showing him to be a typical New Englander. He led an outdoor life, exposed to the rugged weather and took little care to protect himself from the elements. Thoreau's homespun philosophy has spread over the world and during the hundred years after his death his fame reached the far corners of the earth. MALVINA HOFFMAN."
These medallions were struck to commemorate Thoreau's entry into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, at New York University. One of the limited number of reduced-size plasters of Hoffman's bust of Thoreau for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University is also in this collection; that bust belonged formerly to Roland Robbins, who excavated the Walden site of Thoreau's house (Th124).
From enclosed brochure: "Thoreau's prolific writing known as his Journal was of great assistance to me in learning about the character of the man. I also consulted people who had written eloquently about him, and I studied some portraits made of him during his lifetime. The fact that he was shown in some bas-relief plaques wearing a beard I found was not representative of him except during a short period of two years, so I preferred to concentrate on the man's clean-cut Yankee features showing him to be a typical New Englander. He led an outdoor life, exposed to the rugged weather and took little care to protect himself from the elements. Thoreau's homespun philosophy has spread over the world and during the hundred years after his death his fame reached the far corners of the earth. MALVINA HOFFMAN."
These medallions were struck to commemorate Thoreau's entry into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, at New York University. One of the limited number of reduced-size plasters of Hoffman's bust of Thoreau for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University is also in this collection; that bust belonged formerly to Roland Robbins, who excavated the Walden site of Thoreau's house (Th124).
Object number: Pi1141.2g
E. & H.T. Anthony & Co.
Late 1800s
