Winged Victory

Object NameMedal

Artist / Maker Christian Petersen (Danish - American, 1885 - 1961)

Manufacturer Chas. M. Robbins Company (American, 1892 - 1963)

Date1909

MediumBronze

Dimensions1 3/4 × 1 1/8 × 1/8 in. (4.4 × 2.9 × 0.3 cm)

ClassificationsMedals, Medallions, and Coins

Credit LinePurchased by Iowa State University Library. Transferred to University Museums. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM99.70

Status

Not on view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: Christian Petersen spent his early career in the commercial jewelry and metal design industry in Attleboro, Massachusetts, where he often designed commemorative medals, including Winged Victory. As a die-cutter and steel engraver, Petersen carved his designs directly into steel hubs or other metals to create molds. Though his skills were highly regarded and had a promising career ahead of him, Petersen grew discontented with commercial design and later sought to establish himself as a fine art sculptor. He received training at vocational schools in Newark, New Jersey, but by 1910, he began studying at fine arts institutions such as the Art Students League in New York and the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Winged Victory is a replica of the famous ancient Greek sculpture, the Nike of Samothrace, currently at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, served as a messenger for both Zeus, the king of the gods, and Athena, the goddess of war. She presided over all competitions, particularly athletic events, but was most closely associated with military triumph. The foliage that ornaments the upper part of Petersen’s medal likely represents laurel leaves, a traditional symbol of victory. The medal bears no inscription, so the specific purpose for which Petersen created it remains unknown, although several iterations in size and design were later made available by the Chas. M. Robbins Company (later Robbins Co.). The classical style and draping of this figure are also evident in other works related to war, particularly Petersen’s Spanish-American War Memorial of 1923.

Published ReferencesAdvertised in two sizes in the Chas. M. Robbins Co. catalogue, College and School Emblems, 1909-10; and Class Pins, Rings, and Emblems, n.d. Catalogues held in the Robbins Co. archives, Attleboro Area Industrial Museum, Attleboro, MA. Iteration 2: Advertised in Trophies The Robbins Company, n.d. after 1923 -n.p. Winged Victory – 1923/Interscholastic/ Wyoming Seminary Image: Transmission (Northern Natural Gas Co.), Vol. VIII No. 2, 1960.

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