Who was DURUSSEL, ÉDOUARD ?

DURUSSEL, ÉDOUARD (Swiss). Medallist, born at Morges on the 16th February, 1842, died at Préfargier on the 17th May, 1888. When quite young he exhibited uncommon aptitude for drawing, and at of the age of 14 he was placed in apprenticeship by his parents with an engraver at Zella, near Gotha , where he spent four years. He then visited Berlin, worked there at the Royal Mint for three years, and, on the recommendation of Antoine Bovy, was afterwards engaged in the works of M. Paulin-Tasset at Paris, 1865. In 1867, he came to London, took up a post of engraver, and married an English lady, from whom however he separated after a few years, in consequence of unhappy wedded life. In 1869, Durussel returned to Switzerland, and settled at Berne ; the die-sinking business he established there was not at first -a prosperous one ; domestic troubles and financial difficulties drove the unfortunate engraver to the study of medallic art. “ Durussel's reputation in his own country is justly merited. His Schützenthaler are thoroughly national in character. The subjects he has depicted are taken from scenes in the heroic past of Swiss history and, as some one has said of him, he who is able to produce such fine figures, is not only a great artist, but also a good patriot. " The numerous medals engraved by Durussel between 1876 and 1888, the date of his death, give one an idea of the extraordinary working and creative powers with which this artist was endowed. His feu sacré brought him to an untimely end ; his brain gave way under the constant fatigue and pressure to which he subjected it. A friend of his, the well-known medallist of Berne, F. Homberg, who, through the courtesy of M. Arnold Robert, State Councillor, has forwarded to me valuable information on Durussel, looks upon him as one of the first medallists of Switzerland, who has had the courage to leave the old routine, the stereotyped ways of classic antiquity, and the hackneyed allegorical compositions, to reproduce nature and life in their various aspects, thus being a forerunner of the now so much admired new style of medallic art. Durussel was no Academician ; notwithstanding, he understood true Art ; his figures do not show any want of knowledge of anatomy ; the composition is genial, and the execution artistic, graceful, and extremely neat ; this engraver's medals reveal a man of uncommon taste and exceptional abilities. The following are the principal medals and coins engraved by Durussel : Federal Shooting Thaler of Lausanne, 1876; — Fourth Centenary of the Battle of Morat, 1876; — Federal Shooting Thaler of Basle, 1879 ; — Another, of Fribourg, 1881 ; — Another, of Lugano, 1883 ; — Another, of Berne, 1885 ; — Fifth Centenary of the Battle of Naefelds, 1888; — Federal Choral Festival at Zurich, 1880 ; — Restoration of Lake Dwellings at Mörigen, Estavayer and Auvernier (illustrated) ; — Cantonal Tir medal of La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1886 (this medal is considered the artist's master-piece) ; — Swiss Velo-Club ; — Prof. Dr Bernard Studer ; — Dr Albrecht von Haller, 1877 ; — Société vaudoise pour la protection des animaux ; — Eaux de La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1887 (signed : E. DURUSSEL SUCC.) ; — J. Niggeler, 1891 ; — F?te des Vignerons at Vevey ; — Agricultural Prize Medal for the Swiss National Exhibition at Zurich, 1883, &c. These are only a few out of a larger number. In 1888, Durussel was entrusted with the preparing of the dies for a new coinage of Five-franc pieces, but illness prevented his from bringing the work into execution. In 1871, he had issued patterns for Twenty-Franc pieces, with head of Liberty on obv. and arms on R. (illustrated). The dies were destroyed in 1890. The writer of Durussel's obituary notice in Alpenrosen, 3 Juni, 1888, p. 184, remarks : "Durussel's Werke sind sein geistiges Eigenthum. Er brauchte zu seinen Arbeiten nie den Stil eines Andern, er war sich selbst genug. Genial und reich an Entwürfen, selbst vorzüglicher Zeichner, war er auch der Mann, seirie Ideen ohne andere Hülfe auszufuhren... Er war seinen Arbeitern ein liebevoller Patron, seinen Freunden treu ergeben, ein munterer, geistvoller Gesellschafter, überall gem gesehen. Ein begeisterter Jünger der Kunst, von feuriger Seele, hat er fur jene gelebt und gerungen und ist in ihrem Dienste gestorben. Doch seine Werke sollen fortleben. Das Schweizervolk wird den genialen Schöpfer seiner Schützenfestthaler sobald nicht vergessen ; Durussel hat sich ein Anrecht auf dessen Liebe erworben. " Bibliography. — Revue suisse de numismatique, 1882- 1900. — Arnold Robert, Les écus des tirs fédéraux, &c, Revue suisse de num. — Alpenrosen, 5 Juni 1888. — Information kindly furnished by M. Arnold Robert, Conseiller des Etals, and M. F. Homberg, Medallist of Berne,

Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904

DÖLL, JOHANN VEIT
DÖLL, JOHANN VEIT (Germ.). Medallist, born in 1750, resided at Suhl, and died in 1835. He worked for the die-sinking establishment of Loos at Berlin ; during the space of twenty years, he cut about ninety different dies for that firm. The Dresden Court also employed him on several occasions. His work is fairly good. I have seen a medal, with bust of Asklepios (2 var.), signed by this artist : DÖLL ; also : Portrait-medal of Dr Georg Franz Blasius von Adelmann, Fulda, 1822 ; — Krankenpflege, Heid...
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DOLL, KARL WILHELM
DOLL, KARL WILHELM (Germ.). Medallist at Mannheim and Karlsruhe, 1810-1848. His signature D appears on Kronenthalers of 1813, and 1817, Double Thaler, of Leopold of Baden, 1852, and also on another of Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 1842, &c. He was a son of Johann Veit Döll; born 19. May, 1787; became Court-medallist in 1810; Mint-master and Chief-engraver of the coins at Mannheim, 1813; Mint-master at Karlsruhe, 1828-1848; died 31. March, 1848. There is a commemorative medal of Gustavus A...
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DOLLIN, J.
DOLLIN, J. (French). Medallist of the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth ; he was residing at Paris, circa 1680, and worked for the French Medal Mint from 1714 to 1725. He was employed to complete the series of medals of Louis XIV. The total of the sums paid to him for this work amounted to 16,780 livres. The following medals engraved by this artist are described in the Catalogue of the French Mint Museum : Birth of Louis XIV., 1638; — Beginning of the King's reign, 16...
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DOMANECK, ANTON MATHIAS JOSEPH
DOMANECK, ANTON MATHIAS JOSEPH, also DOMANÖK, or DOMANIG (Austr.). 1713-1779. Sculptor,and Medallist of Vienna; filled the post of Professor of Medal-engraving at the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts. On his election he executed a large medallion, representing the Emperor Joseph II. in a Roman toga. By this artist are also: Empress Elizabeth Christina, widow of Charles VI., undated; — Francis I., R. The Emperor between Hercules and Minerva, 1574, signed A Domanöck; — The Imperial Family, 1754. His...
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