Renaissance Redneck: The Great Profile

Provided by the University of Washington
Actor John Barrymore, (1882-1942), known as the “The Great Profile,” was the grandfather of Drew Barrymore, his siblings being Ethel and Lionel. John Barrymore received his moniker due to his aquiline nose which he flaunted to audiences quite often, whether on stage or in film, “mugging it up,” as he posed in iconic profile. This profile position was used often in the old pre-sixties black and white movies, even when two actors were conversing, hearkening back to the era of black and white, silhouette paper cut portraits and the fine art of cameo sculpture.

Barrymore was born into the Victorian Era, which ended in 1901, a time when cameo necklaces had reached their height in popularity. These baubles were often custom made portraits of the wearer fashioned from semi-precious stones, such as agate and marine shell. Often these miniature works of art depicted a profile bas-relief of the owner or of a loved one. These full profile portraits were hewn with intricacy and meticulous definition, paying the highest regard to realism, to the point of hyper-realism, that “pops” with animate spirit.

This deftness of cameo profile portraiture flowed over into the bas relief sculpture on our United States coinage. We have seen the examples of this masterful artwork with the crag faced portrait of President Lincoln on the penny, the majestic Buffalo nickel with the countenance of Native American, John Big Tree, and the Kennedy half dollar that is imbued with John F. Kennedy’s stunning Hollywood leading man appearance. The penultimate U.S. coin ever created was sculpted by the Cornish-based Augustus Saint-Gaudens, minted from 1907-1933. The oversized plaster model for the coin can be viewed at his home studio in Cornish.

After the Kennedy coin, first stamped in 1964, the quality of the sculpture takes a dramatic plunge along with the newly minted coins’ overall actual monetary value. This depreciation in value was due to the “Coinage Act” of 1965 when the decision was made to clad our pocket change with a thin layer of silver.

In 1979 the Susan B. Anthony was minted, which depicts the stern profile of the stringent suffragette, reminding me of my no-nonsense sixth grade grammar schoolmarm, Mrs. Philbrick. This is one of the first of what I like to call “subway token” coins, partially due to its diminutive size, as compared to the dollar coinage of the past, having a diameter just a smidgeon larger than the U.S. quarter. But more importantly, this homage to the social reformer was constructed with a copper core then plated with nickel. Apparently, the powers that be did not deem the suffragette’s dollar worthy of even a modicum of silver plate. Inflation had crept in to usurp our former lustrous silver dollar masterpieces of their beauty and their worth.

After the 1986 Challenger disaster, we were given the Christa McAuliffe commemorative silver dollar, depicting her likeness in three quarter profile position, rather than the full profile, cameo view. The three-quarter view, being less formal, was perhaps used in this case to project our lost astronaut in a softer, more familiar light. The McAuliffe silver piece is made up of 99.9 percent silver has been hoarded by collectors, regardless of the fact that it is smaller than our half dollar, making it seem somewhat subway tokenish.

In 1999, the U.S. treasury began the release of the “50 State Quarters”, a commemorative set, depicting our first president, George Washington, in full profile on the face of the coin, but with each individual state’s unique symbology on the reverse side. The reverse sides of these coins are often too busy in a cockamamie tattoo style that was most likely a result of the committees overseeing each home state’s particular motif, cheapening the overall outcome again into the “subway token” realm.

The latest coin design is that of renowned poet, Maya Angelou, depicted on the reverse side of the U.S. quarter. Her likeness which seems flat, lacking in bas-relief style with its “sand sculptured” shadowed eagle, the textureless, mercurial fluid garment, a skin tight cocktail dress. covering a body devoid of anatomical features. In the past, a noted deceased figure being portrayed would have been clothed with a scholarly robe, replete with folds, flowing with movement. Frankly, the work looks unfinished, although at the onset the overall design was insightfully poetic, with the human, avian forms, juxtaposed. But as usual with these new coins, we the viewers are left unsated, visually bereft of the aesthetic feast given to us by Saint-Gaudens and other pre-seventies artists.

David Kittredge is a regular Lifestyles contributor to the Eagle Times. You can send comments to him via the editor at [email protected].