1937 World Figure Skating Medal: For Achievement in Pair Skating.

A rare survivor from figure skating’s pre-World War II era

Commemorative medals, often issued by a host federation, were commonly presented to medal winners and other participants at early World Figure Skating Championships and European Figure Skating Championships. Such is the case with the provenance-laden medal featured in this gallery, given to Austria’s Ilse Pausin and Erik Pausin for second place in pairs skating at the 1937 World Figure Skating Championships, held in London, England. For collectors today, examples such as this 1937 World Figure Skating Championships medal provide a tangible connection to one of the sport’s most elegant and formative eras.

The brother-and-sister team, silver medal winners at the 1936 Olympic Winter Games, were also runners-up at the 1937 World Championships, where the commemorative medal shown would have been awarded. The Pausins were among the leading pair teams of the 1930s, competing during a period when pair skating was evolving from relatively simple side-by-side movements into a discipline featuring increasingly sophisticated lifts, spins, and artistic interpretation. The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins added the medal to its collection in 2003 through an auction house sale.

Medal Gallery: 1937 World Figure Skating Championships

A detailed outdoor skating scene covers the face of the medal and features a male figure skater, sporting strap-on skates and dressed in old-fashioned attire, about to execute a series of “fancy skating” moves. A curled, twisted tree and adjacent field with brushy growth create a textural landscape behind the skater. The silver-colored medal has developed a cool patina over its nearly 90 years, with light tarnishing that highlights the details in the tree branches and creates a subtle glow around the skater.

The reverse of the medal is marked “National Skating Association” along the top circumference and along the bottom is decorative foliage with a flowing band that contains “of Great Britain.” A series of hallmarks is also seen above the foliage. Curiously, “N.S.A of G.B”—the abbreviation for National Skating Association of Great Britain—is repeated at the top of the medal. Perhaps more curiously, the periods have been omitted after the “A” and “B” in the abbreviated version. Engraved in the center is the Pausins’ achievement at the event: “Second in the Championship of the World in Pair Skating 1937.” For collectors, the engraving is particularly significant because it directly identifies the recipient’s accomplishment rather than simply commemorating the event itself. Such personalization enhances both the historical value and provenance of the piece, helping establish a clear connection between the object and the athletes who earned it. Consistent with the era, the medal likely was given with compliments of the host federation and therefore bears its name; in this case, twice.

The imagery is especially interesting because it looks backward to skating’s 19 century roots rather than depicting the competitive figure skating of the late 1930s. This nostalgic artistic choice reflects how many skating organizations of the era celebrated the sport’s long traditions even as competitive skating continued to modernize.

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on May 1, 2021, and has been updated with new and expanded information.

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