A Grand Medallion

I haven't had much time to sketch in the past week or two so I thought I'd share a photo of something I drew a few weeks ago.  It was a medallion that I bought for a friend who likes deer; now that she has received her gift, I can post these photos.

I found it at the Aberfoyle outdoor antique market in September.  There were actually 3 of them available but I foolishly only bought one; I've been regretting that decision ever since!  Using my favourite resource tool, Google, I found this eBay listing from 2010 which describes a similar medallion and attributes it to the Catholic Order of Foresters, described on Wikipedia as a "Catholic fraternal insurance society".  If you wish, you can read more about them on their website.

Here's my sketch, drawn over top of a page torn from a receipt book dating back to 1929, another antique market purchase that day.

It was quite an interesting piece, about six inches in length and two inches in width.  I was thinking it would make an unusual clasp for a handmade journal perhaps; I'll be interested to see what my friend Susan does with it.  In the meantime, I'll keep my eyes open, in case I see another one in the future that I might want to pick up for myself! ;)