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1889 Universal Exhibition

10 posts in this topic

I know I should be posting this in World, but hardly anyone ever goes there.

 

A medal similar to this had been listed by one of my French Connections, but I neglected to check back before the end of the auction and I lost it by $1. Within hours, he sent me an e-mail and told me that he had a nicer specimen that was identical and would sell it to me for $11 less than the winning bid on the other. Naturally, I said, "Yes!"

 

This medal by Albert D. Barre is 33mm and was produced for the 1889 Exhibition, but it also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. I have two other 1889 Exhibition medals that are 63mm, neither of which makes reference to the revolution, and I thought this would be a nice companion piece.

 

However, that is not why I found this medal so interesting. Would anyone like to guess why?

 

Chris

 

 

 

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Since this is the first one of these I have ever seen, I have no clue why you would find it "more interesting" than the others.

 

Is there something written under the bust?

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I think you just like the lady :D

I'm thinking I have seen her image on something else. Maybe a US pattern?

 

Larry, that is the artists depiction of Marianne, the symbol of France. I have many, many different renderings of her.

 

Here are just a few:

 

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Since this is the first one of these I have ever seen, I have no clue why you would find it "more interesting" than the others.

 

Is there something written under the bust?

 

Yes, the artist's name.

 

Chris

 

PS. Woody, hold down the Ctrl key and hit the + (plus key) to enlarge the photo. To return to normal size, hold down Ctrl and hit the - (minus key). You probably already know this, but what the heck.

 

Chris

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Since this is the first one of these I have ever seen, I have no clue why you would find it "more interesting" than the others.

 

Is there something written under the bust?

 

Okay, Woody, since you seem to be the only one interested, I'll tell you, but I'm going to whisper it so no one else can hear. :roflmao:

 

You asked about the writing below the bust.

 

Immediately below is the artist's name, BARRE, and below that is "BRONZE" and the mintmark (Cornucopia) to signify the Monnaie de Paris. The mintmark is commonly called a "Different" by the Paris Mint. Anyway, I have looked at tens of thousands of French medals, and only a small handful have ever had the mintmark raised as part of the design in the field. This is the first time that I have ever seen the metal composition as part of the design on any French medal. Generally, the mintmark and metal composition are stamped onto the edge of the medal.

 

Chris

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Well, there you have it, I learned two new things today, French medals and control +/-

 

(was downloading to My Pictures, easy in Windows7, and just clicking increase size)

 

 

 

I learnt this a ways back too ¢

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Chris,

I'm interested but I knew nothing about about your medal so I couldn't even make a wild guess. The women on the medals are pretty. It makes me wonder what they were thinking when they used the matron head on our large cents.

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Chris,

I'm interested but I knew nothing about about your medal so I couldn't even make a wild guess. The women on the medals are pretty. It makes me wonder what they were thinking when they used the matron head on our large cents.

 

My Mom was an artist for 75 years, so I've been around art my entire life. Any artist's rendering is how he or she envisions the subject. It's called artistic license. Much of the portraiture from the 17th through the early 19th centuries was just that, matronly, because society was still, for the most part, puritanical in their beliefs.

 

It wasn't until the latter half of the 19th century that many of our medallists gained inspiration from French artists. I mentioned to one of the other members that Augustus St. Gaudens attended the Ecoles des Beaux Arts in Paris from 1867-1870.

 

Chris

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