Lot #19
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"Cuckold Medal" - anti-Semitic medal.
Germany > Gotha: ‘Cuckold Medal’ (“Hahnrei medaille”) with ‘Feather Jew’ motif (ND), c. 1700, by Christian Wermuth; struck in light-weight alloy.
Front: antlered Jew riding large cock, 5 smaller roosters in background; 2-lined legend above: “WER KEINER I ST DER KAN NOCH EINER | WER DEN” [‘Where no-one can become someone’]. Reverse: decorated open chest on tiled floor with pair of antlers from
Back: double-ringed legend: “DIE LADE FVHRT DIE GRÖSTE ZVNFFT AVF ERDEN | VM MANCHEN IST ES EWIG SCHADE” [‘The clouds drove the guild off the ground, To some it is eternal pity’]; 4 line legend on box: “DAS ER KÖMT | IN DIE | HAHNREY | LADE”. Not documented in any research works on Jewish medals, it most closely resembles the anti-Semitic/satiric “feather Jew” medals which played on the alleged sexual-financial prowess of Jews during times of famine.