The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 40, October 7, 2007, Article 11

REMEMBRANCES OF JOSEPH NOBLE

Regarding last week's item about the late Joseph Veach Noble,
Dick Johnson writes: "Joe Noble came on board Medallic Art
Company as director of the Society of Medalists when I was
still employed by the firm. I had interviewed him previously
when he was a director of the New York City Museum. However
to him I was still hired help. But our respect for each
other grew when I left the firm, to become a medal dealer
while he remained in charge of the Society of Medalists.

"Gosh, here was someone I could talk to -- someone who
knew the language! -- and our paths crossed frequently.
He had been trained in art, long before becoming a curator
at the Metropolitan Art Museum, and was extremely proficient
in the art field. He knew the meaning of 'surmoulage,'
'contraposition,' 'superimpose,' 'replicate' and 'fecit,'
for example.  We could communicate and know what the other
was talking about.

"It is the last term, 'fecit,' he once told me (at a reception
at ANS in the old building) that one artist would use this
term talking to another artist, but change it slightly for
its humorous effect. "Oh, I see you signed the model 'faked
it.'" But the artist had to be of equal reputation. I don't
see any sculptor saying this to a Paul Manship or a
Picasso, for example.

"For Don Scarinci's book on the Society of Medalists, I
arranged for Don and I to interview Joe. Three of us, Don,
my wife and I met at his home in New Jersey. We turned on
the tape recorder and pestered him with questions. That
interview is the property of Don and I hope he will relate
some of those comments. They reflected the humor, the
knowledge, the experience of this fine gentleman. He knew
the field and he knew the artists. We will miss him.

"On another occasion we were talking about plaster models.
He related that the Metropolitan Art Museum has one of the
largest collections of such plaster models and these are
stored in an old sealed-off subway tunnel beneath the
Metropolitan. He was in charge of those models. He told
me "I knew those plaster models so well you could turn
off the lights and I could walk among them and never
stub my toes."

 MEDAL EXPERT JOSEPH VEACH NOBLE 1920-2007
 esylum_v10n39a08.html

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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