International studio (16.1902)

French Medals


The amateur desirous of learning found therein a
valuable source of information wherewith to
supplement the teaching already furnished by the
glyptic sections—national and contemporary—
arranged in the Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts, in
the Champs Elysees; * at the same time he had
the opportunity of adding to his collection, or of
forming one on the spot, at a moderate cost.

In commissioning Daniel Dupuis and M. Patey
to model these medailles de circonstance the Mint
was only following precedent; but it showed real
initiative when, about 1893, it set about creating a
series of medals, for the most part having no
commemorative significance, with the sole object of
producing works of art, which of themselves should
give general pleasure.
They were all to be seen at the 1900 Exhibition,
from the earliest—the wedding piece by M. Roty,
and the Hommage a la science by M. Bottee—to the
Hommage aux Graveurs, by M. Lechevrel; * and
the Salut au Soleil, by M. G. Dupre. This time
it was the true amateur the Mint strove
to reach; and that expectation was in
no way vain, seeing that 46,000 copies
of these works went straight from the
Exhibition into the possession of col-
lectors. For the benefit of those who
wish to know which were the favourite
medals it may be mentioned that those
which had the largest sale were the

MEDAL BY CHAPLAIN
Formerly, the Paris Mint issued no
medals, save those having some historical
characteristic or intended to serve as
prizes in various kinds of competitions.
The only exceptions to this rule were
made on the occasion of Universal Exhi-
bitions, the Mint, since 1867, making it
a point of honour to signalise its parti-
cipation therein by striking a special
medal. In 1900, two productions by the
lamented Daniel Dupuis, and another
by M. Patey, enabled all and sundry to
preserve a durable souvenir of this great
industrial and pacific event. No fewer
than 65,000 of these three medals, all
struck under the visitor’s very eyes, were
sold. These figures are worth remem-
bering. Of course, considerations quite
foreign to art actuated many of the pur-
chasers ; nevertheless the fact remains,
that the public is daily becoming more
and more familiarised with a method of
plastic expression to which only yester-
day it was, if not hostile, at least alto-
gether indifferent.
* See The Studio, May 1901, p. 221, et seq.
l6

BY ROTY

* These three medals were reproduced in The Studio
of October, 1898, the first on page 20, the second on
page 18, and the third on page 19.
t See The Studio, October, 1898, page 22, for a
reproduction of this medal.

Orphee, of M. Coudray (4,500 copies) ;
UHorticulhire, Le Hid, and La Source,
by Daniel Dupuis; Le Salut au Soleil,
by M. Dupre; and La Peinture, by M.
Alexandre Charpentier.f In the total th
receipts quadrupled those obtained by the
Treasury during the Exhibition of 1889.

MEDAL

BY BOTTEE