I competed on my eighth grade swim team. My strongest event was the breaststroke. But I never remember seeing any medals like this—let alone ever winning one. We had slender, simple satin ribbons, embossed with golden lettering, grommeted and hanging from a string. To be honest, they were more like bookmarks than championship awards. Blue went to the winner. Red was second place. White, Yellow and Green signified third, fourth and fifth places. But it was still nice to "ribbon." (It would be even better to have "medaled.")
The Modernist bronze swimming medal, shown above, was made in the Fifties or Sixties. The bas relief front of the medallion shows two swimmers—lungs burning—as they race to the finishing touch. It hangs from a red silk grosgrain "suspension ribbon" which conceals a hanging bar behind it. Perhaps the red ribbon indicates second place?
Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.