TORE STRINDBERG. A medal, silver.

Sporrong & CO. It's Stockholm. General Swedish Garden Exhibition 1930. Stamped D8 (1930). Signed Tore Strindberg. Ø 5 cm. Weight: 57 g.

Bear engraving: “A E SVENSSON GRIMBO GOTHENBURG”. This is the medal's recipient, Axel Svensson, also called Gurk-Svensson and a great personality in the gardening circles in the first half of the 20th century.

The General Swedish Garden Exhibition was inaugurated on 11 August 1930 in Stockholm, probably as part of the then ongoing Stockholm Exhibition. In connection with the exhibition, a competition was also held. For this, Tore Strindberg designed the auction's medal. The medal, which is minted at Sporrong & CO in Stockholm, was made in two sizes of which this is the larger. The obverse of the medal houses the Roman goddesses Flora and Pomona with characteristic symbols. The former was the goddess of flowers and spring and she is depicted with a flower in her right hand. The latter was the goddess of fertility and gardens as evidenced by the apple in the left hand. The obverse of the medal depicts Adam and Eve in Paradise. They are seen praying towards the sky where the sun's rays burst through a thundercloud, a strong god symbol. The motif is surrounded by the text “I HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD WALKING IN THE GARDEN”. It is the poet and writer Axel Erik Karlfeldt who is behind the stanza, he has also written the book “Flora and Pomona” (1906). In 1931, Karlfeldt received the Nobel Prize in Literature posthumously.