New Year's Medallion with Victory Holding Shield

Place of OriginRome

Date1st century CE (or 19th century immitation)

DimensionsDiam: 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)

MediumOpaque pale blue glass, mold-pressed and cut.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1689

Not on View

DescriptionA small, circular medallion made from opaque pale blue glass. Molded in relief, it shows a winged female figure (Victory) in a long tunic, facing left, with one wing visible. She holds a wheat sheaf in her left arm and raises a round shield in her right, likely inscribed in Latin with a traditional Roman New Year greeting—“ANNUM NOVUM FAUSTUM FELICEM.” To her side is another shield bearing the double-faced god Janus, a symbol of transition and the New Year. Additional motifs such as a pinecone and grain appear near her head.

Label TextThis small circular medallion, pressed in opaque pale blue glass, reproduces a complex Roman iconographic program associated with New Year rituals. A winged female figure—Victory—stands in relief, holding a wheat sheaf and raising a shield inscribed (though now illegibly) with what was likely the Latin greeting "Annum Novum Faustum Felicem" ("A Happy and Prosperous New Year"). To one side appears another shield, bearing the two-headed face of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. Additional details include a pinecone and grain—symbols of fertility and seasonal renewal. Such motifs closely resemble those found on verified Roman New Year tokens, including oil lamps and coins exchanged as strenae, or well-wishing gifts, during the Kalends of January. The object's iconography resembles the imagery on 1st century CE terracotta lamps, but the crude execution of this unusual glass example may indicate it is a 19th century reproduction. This medallion was published in 1894 as part of the Coleman Collection of Antique Glass, assembled by Charles Caryl Coleman (1840–1928), an American painter and expatriate who lived in Rome and later Capri. Coleman, like many artist-collectors of his time, sourced decorative objects from the Italian antiquities market, often valuing aesthetic appeal over archaeological documentation.Published ReferencesSturgis, Russell, “The Coleman Collection of Antique Glass,” The Century Magazine, vol. 48, 1894, p. 555, fig. 8.