Irish Free State Coinage Design 2⁄6 Leath Choroin

Paul Manship, Irish Free State Coinage Design 2/6 Leath Choroin, 1927, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1965.16.66
Paul Manship, Irish Free State Coinage Design 2/6 Leath Choroin, 1927, bronze, 4 1⁄2 in. (11.4 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1965.16.66

Artwork Details

Title
Irish Free State Coinage Design 2⁄6 Leath Choroin
Artist
Date
1927
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
4 1⁄2 in. (11.4 cm) diam.
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — horse
  • Object — other — money
Object Number
1965.16.66
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1965.16.66

Artwork Description

In 1926, Paul Manship was selected to participate in an international competition to design the coinage of the Irish Free State. Dublin-born poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) had proposed a general motif of animals associated with Irish life, including a hen, ram, salmon, hare, wolfhound, wood duck, harp, and bull’s head. Manship lost the competition to English sculptor Percy Metcalf, but graciously acknowledged that, had he been on the jury, he would have made the same decision. Manship’s design here is for the leath choróin, which is Irish for “half crown”---or two shillings, six pence (2/6).

Works by this artist (626 items)

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Werner Drewes, Central Density, 1973, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1975.116
Central Density
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Date1973
oil on canvas
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Werner Drewes, Pointed Brown and Floating Circles, 1933, oil, pen and ink, and pencil on wood panel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.17
Pointed Brown and Floating Circles
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Date1933
oil, pen and ink, and pencil on wood panel
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Werner Drewes, Suspended Forms, woodcut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1977.21.11
Suspended Forms
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woodcut
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Werner Drewes, Summer Bouquet (no. 242), color woodcut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1968.9.81
Summer Bouquet (no. 242)
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color woodcut
Not on view

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