Description
This is a fascinating item. We have never seen anything like it before. It is a cased set of four table medals for the Saxon Red Cross, made by the famed porcelain manufacturer Meissen.
The case is 4 ½” x 4 ½,” and covered in somewhat soiled white leatherette. A simple red cross decorates the top lid’s center. The Meissen hallmark appears in the upper left corner. Inside the case, the Meissen hallmark is repeated on the white silk upper lid, again in the upper left corner. The words “Vom Sächsischen Roten Kreuz Dresden” are printed in gold. The lower half is covered in green velvet, with four hollowed spaces for the four table medals.
Although all of the table medalsl sport the same design, each one is colored somewhat differently. One is totally chocolate brown, one is brown with gold trim and highlights, one is totally white, and the other is white with gold trim and gold and red highlights. Each has a picture of a praying mother with two children beside her on the obverse. The words encircling the coin are “Es Klagen die Mütter In Hunger In Not Es Klagen Die Kinder Es Wütet der Tod (The Mother laments in hunger and need, the children lament, Death rages).”
The reverse features a (red) cross, the date 1921, and the words “Landesnotopfer – Für das Sächsische Rote Kreuz.” One of the case’s back hinges is broken, and the box is a little warped. This does not detract from the piece’s overall attractiveness. The table medals are in exquisite condition.
