Daniel Giraud Elliot Gold Medal with Case

Bashford Dean (1867–1928), the founding curator of the Arms and Armor Department, was also a highly regarded scientist. The Elliot Medal, established in 1917, was awarded to Dean by the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of his magnum opus, The Bibliography of Fishes, published in three volumes between 1916 and 1923. Our collection includes a wealth of information about Dean's work as a curator, scholar, and collector of arms and armor, but very little about his scientific career. This medal, the capstone of Dean's work as a scientist, embodies that aspect of his life and work perfectly in a single, important and beautifully made object.

Obverse: portrait bust of Daniel Giraud Elliot rendered in low relief, framed above in a semicircular arc by the words •THE DANIEL GIRAUD ELLIOT MEDAL•.

Reverse: the upper half has an eagle on the left and a duck-billed dinosaur to the right separated in the center by a tree around which a snake is coiled. Beneath this the words AWARDED ANNUALLY/FOR PREEMINENCE IN/ZOOLOGY OR PALENTOLOGY. Beneath this a recessed compartment in which BASHFORD DEAN is engraved and to the right of this the date, 1921, also engraved. Below this at the bottom center there is a nautilus shell and the representation of waves. Along the lower right edge are the words TIFFANY & CO.

Case: covered in pebbled red leather, hinged lid and spring catch. On the lid in gold lettering are the words Bashford Dean/1921. The interior of the base is lined with velvet and has a circular recess to receive the medal and a red silk ribbon to facilitate its removal. The interior of the lid is lined with a red satin printed in gold with the words Harris & Shafer CO/Washington, D. C.