Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
January 2016 NYINC Auction 12-13 January 2016
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
FRANCE. Inauguration of the Musee Social Bronze Medal, 1895. ALMOST UNCIRCULATED.
60 mm; 100.95 gms. Maier-99. By Roty. A seated woman, in the usual flowing dress, seated in a library, architectural plans on her table; Reverse: An academic entering the building, with a worker -- at a respectable distance -- following him. The museum -- a research institute, in practice -- was devoted to social problems, i.e. working-class issues. This piece is so emblematic of the class system, one might expect the Musee to promulgate an austere liberalism that contained the lower classes as much as it might raise them. The institution was private, not governmental, but worked hard to find solutions through joint public/private efforts. Over time, the public dimension came to dominate, and the Musee is credited as the think tank that guided the creation of the French welfare state. This kind of subject matter rarely existed in medals of earlier periods. While the language of Art-Nouveau was the diaphanously-clad nymph 'midst leafy boughs, the social landscape of the period reflected the downsized importance of monarchs and generals, and the rise of the professions. More than a few medals, and not just commissioned portrait pieces, acknowledge the social milieu. Handsomely toned with a small number of darker spots. No detracting marks and only mild handling evidence on highest points of female and academic. ALMOST UNCIRCULATED.
From the Q. David Bowers Collection.
Estimate: $100.00- $150.00
60 mm; 100.95 gms. Maier-99. By Roty. A seated woman, in the usual flowing dress, seated in a library, architectural plans on her table; Reverse: An academic entering the building, with a worker -- at a respectable distance -- following him. The museum -- a research institute, in practice -- was devoted to social problems, i.e. working-class issues. This piece is so emblematic of the class system, one might expect the Musee to promulgate an austere liberalism that contained the lower classes as much as it might raise them. The institution was private, not governmental, but worked hard to find solutions through joint public/private efforts. Over time, the public dimension came to dominate, and the Musee is credited as the think tank that guided the creation of the French welfare state. This kind of subject matter rarely existed in medals of earlier periods. While the language of Art-Nouveau was the diaphanously-clad nymph 'midst leafy boughs, the social landscape of the period reflected the downsized importance of monarchs and generals, and the rise of the professions. More than a few medals, and not just commissioned portrait pieces, acknowledge the social milieu. Handsomely toned with a small number of darker spots. No detracting marks and only mild handling evidence on highest points of female and academic. ALMOST UNCIRCULATED.
From the Q. David Bowers Collection.
Ex: Stack's Bowers & Ponterio Sale 182 January 10-14, 2014 Lot# 2023.
Ex: Tony Terranova Collection.
Estimate: $100.00- $150.00