Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 52 18 Nov 2020
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A Collection of silver Fin de Siècle, Belle Epoque and Art Nouveau medals and medallic plaquettes, France, "Alceste - Tendres Amants, Heureux Époux", silver plaquette [1906], by Albert Bartholomé for the Société des Amis de la Médaille Française, the young lovers, Alceste and King Admeto of Thessaly, hold each other and clasp hands, rev. within a floral border, a fragment of the score of the opera, Parez vos fronts de fleurs nouvelles, tendres amants, heureux époux!, 80.5 x 63.5mm, edge numbered 45, stamped ARGENT and with poinçon of the Société, a superbly sculptural plaquette, matt surface, virtually as struck and extremely rare
*ex Baldwin's vault
Lots 405-484 would seem to have come from a pre-war collection and they have been hidden away in a biscuit tin without explanation, wrapped in old newspapers from April 1939 to 1947 (though missing the War years). There might be a clue in that as well as The Times and The Daily Mail, there is also a copy of The Sydney Morning Herald. All the pieces are silver and as such many are now great rarities. The group includes pieces from for the Société Hollandaise-Belge des Amis de la Médaille and rather more from the Société des Amis de la Médaille Française. This latter Société, founded in 1900, was the idea of Roger Marx (1859-1913), by profession a civil servant, though better remembered as an art critic, journalist, writer and a passionate and refined collector. In 1882 he had been appointed Secrétaire des Beaux-Arts in Paris, becoming in 1887, Directeur de l'Administration des Beaux-Arts, and was closely associated with a great number of artists whose names are so familiar today. The Société was never a great success and was wound up in 1910, though because of his death and the First World War, the final issues were not made until 1920. In all it published a total of only 63 pieces - 23 round medals and 40 plaquettes. The sale offers 12 round medals and 18 plaquettes, all in silver, just less than half those produced, one of which, Paul Grandhomme's "Les Joyaux", is one of only 45 in that metal. All were issued in limited editions, ranging from the aforementioned 45 to 112. The rarity of the individual pieces and, indeed, the group as a whole, cannot be over-estimated.
The medals are measured to the nearest half-millimetre with, for plaquettes, height before width. The medallists are listed in alphabetical order.
Total issue of 201 specimens of which 76 in silver
Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck [1767] with the libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides. Alceste has chosen to sacrifice her life to save that of her gravely ill husband Admeto. He, realising this, decides to die as well so that they might not live without each other, at which point Apollo descends from the heavens and proclaims that the gods have given them their lives as a reward for their steadfast love. Maier suggests that the woman depicted on the plaquette is Bartholomé's second wife Florence, née Letessier, whom he had married in 1901.
(1000-1250 GBP)
*ex Baldwin's vault
Lots 405-484 would seem to have come from a pre-war collection and they have been hidden away in a biscuit tin without explanation, wrapped in old newspapers from April 1939 to 1947 (though missing the War years). There might be a clue in that as well as The Times and The Daily Mail, there is also a copy of The Sydney Morning Herald. All the pieces are silver and as such many are now great rarities. The group includes pieces from for the Société Hollandaise-Belge des Amis de la Médaille and rather more from the Société des Amis de la Médaille Française. This latter Société, founded in 1900, was the idea of Roger Marx (1859-1913), by profession a civil servant, though better remembered as an art critic, journalist, writer and a passionate and refined collector. In 1882 he had been appointed Secrétaire des Beaux-Arts in Paris, becoming in 1887, Directeur de l'Administration des Beaux-Arts, and was closely associated with a great number of artists whose names are so familiar today. The Société was never a great success and was wound up in 1910, though because of his death and the First World War, the final issues were not made until 1920. In all it published a total of only 63 pieces - 23 round medals and 40 plaquettes. The sale offers 12 round medals and 18 plaquettes, all in silver, just less than half those produced, one of which, Paul Grandhomme's "Les Joyaux", is one of only 45 in that metal. All were issued in limited editions, ranging from the aforementioned 45 to 112. The rarity of the individual pieces and, indeed, the group as a whole, cannot be over-estimated.
The medals are measured to the nearest half-millimetre with, for plaquettes, height before width. The medallists are listed in alphabetical order.
Total issue of 201 specimens of which 76 in silver
Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck [1767] with the libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides. Alceste has chosen to sacrifice her life to save that of her gravely ill husband Admeto. He, realising this, decides to die as well so that they might not live without each other, at which point Apollo descends from the heavens and proclaims that the gods have given them their lives as a reward for their steadfast love. Maier suggests that the woman depicted on the plaquette is Bartholomé's second wife Florence, née Letessier, whom he had married in 1901.
(1000-1250 GBP)