Creators of honors

“… Foreign artists fulfilled domestic orders until the middle of the 19th century, when Franjo Karress (?–1889) founded the first domestic engraving workshop in Zagreb.
Josip Radković (1860–1924), author of the first Croatian economic medal, learned the trade in his workshop; he opened his own workshop in 1881, which eventually became the largest in the country. After the World War II, the leading medalists in Croatia were Vanja Radauš (1906–75) and Želimir Janeš (1916–96)….”*
* (medaljerstvo. Croatian Technical Encyclopedia, Online Edition. Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography, 2018. Accessed on 9 October 2023. <https://tehnika.lzmk.hr/medaljerstvo/>.)

Đorđe Andrejević-Kun (1904 – 1964)

  • Yugoslav and Serbian painter and graphic artist, the creator of conceptual solutions for the decoration and coat of arms of the new Yugoslav state formed in 1943.

Grga Antunac (1906 – 1970)

  • Croatian sculptor and medalist. He was engaged in the production of medals and plaques, during his creative work he created about thirty medal works.

Antun Augustinčić (1900 – 1979)

  • Croatian sculptor, art pedagogue and academician, one the most important representatives of Croatian psychological portrait sculpture. He also created medals and plaques. 

Ödön Fülöp Beck (1873 – 1945)

  • Hungarian sculptor, known for his medal work. Author of the prize medals of the Millennial Exhibition in Budapest in 1896.

Jules Clement Chaplain (1839 – 1909)

  • French sculptor and medallist. He made portrait busts and sculptures, medallions and plaques on which he recorded important events of his time (for example the opening of Suez Canal in 1870).

Huguenin Freres & Co.

  • They were founded in Switzerland in 1868, since 1888 they started producing medals and decorations.

Želimir Janeš (1916 – 1996)

  • Croatian sculptor and one of the most important Croatian medalists after World War II. From the beginning of the 1960s, he increasingly dealt with small plastic and medal making, to which he introduced structural and design innovations – standing medals and the so-called tactile.

Franjo Karress (? – 1889)

  • Founder of the first domestic engraving workshop in Zagreb. Worked between 1860 and 1883. Among others, he was the author of medals from 2nd General Meeting of Teachers in Petrinja held in 1874.

Frano Meneghello Dinčić (1900 – 1986)

  • A medalist and sculptor, he made his artistic creativity in relief modeling, including plastic portraiture, which ensured the quality of his portrait medals, memorial medals, plaques and monuments.

Ivan Meštrović (1883 – 1962)

  • Croatian sculptor and architect. Although primarily a sculptor, he occasionally devoted himself to medal making. The few medals he created are recognizable thanks to his instantly recognizable style. The most famous are Meštrović’s medals, medallions, models for money and badges created between 1911 and 1933.

Josip Poljan (1925 – 2015)

  • Croatian sculptor, full professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, dean of the Academy. He is the author of monumental church sculptures and medals and plaques.

Vanja Radauš (1906 – 1975)

  • Croatian sculptor, painter and poet. Alongside Želimir Janeš, after World War II he was the leading medalist in Croatia. He produced about thirty mostly minted medals and marked a new direction in Croatian medal making with emphasized associativeness and expressiveness.

Josip Radković (1860 – 1924)

  • Author of the first Croatian economic medal. In 1881, he opened his own workshop, which eventually became the largest in the country.

Tanfani & Bertarelli

  • They acted as the Vatican’s official manufacturer of decorations and honors from 1905 onwards. After the death of the original owners, in 1967 they changed their name to Ditta Augusto Casazza.

Josef Hermann Tautenhayn (1837 – 1911) & Karl Schwenzer (1843 – 1904)

  • Authors of the medals of the World’s Fair in Vienna in 1873.

V. Mayer’s Söhne – K. u. K. Hof u. Kammerjuweliere Ordenfabrikanten

  • One of the most famous Viennese medal workshops in the 19th and 20th centuries, also acted as an imperial and royal court goldsmith and medalist.