Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
January 2014 NYINC Auction - Sess. C-D 13 January 2014
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FRANCE. Societe des Amis de la Medaille Francaise (SAMF), Founded 1899, Issued 1902.
71x65mm bronze, by Charpentier. 11th SAMF issue. Maier 11, photo'd, all by itself, on the lower back cover. Baxter 20. Obverse: Female nude, holding a modeling tool and a rectangular piece of material (wax?), leans over the legend (name and date of the society). Reverse: Four nude male medal collectors, shown from the waist up, examine a medal held by the youngest. 261 struck (145 bronze), but the numismatic theme, and the demand for Charpentier's work have rendered this piece scarcer than other SAMF issues with a comparable mintage. (Baldwin' sold a silver example, May 2012, for a not-so-expensive 760 Pounds --about $1500.)
The faces of the four men are distinctive and it is possible they correspond to real persons known to the artist. Charpentier may have been poking sly fun at numismatists, showing them naked in a sauna-like setting, oblivious to all but the medal --about 80mm-- being shown. Even in bronze, this wonderfully spirited piece may reach four figures, as opportunities to acquire it probably number one or two per decade. Edge number 244. Rich brown patina. Obverse nearly SUPERB MINT STATE, reverse
ALMOST UNCIRCULATED.
71x65mm bronze, by Charpentier. 11th SAMF issue. Maier 11, photo'd, all by itself, on the lower back cover. Baxter 20. Obverse: Female nude, holding a modeling tool and a rectangular piece of material (wax?), leans over the legend (name and date of the society). Reverse: Four nude male medal collectors, shown from the waist up, examine a medal held by the youngest. 261 struck (145 bronze), but the numismatic theme, and the demand for Charpentier's work have rendered this piece scarcer than other SAMF issues with a comparable mintage. (Baldwin' sold a silver example, May 2012, for a not-so-expensive 760 Pounds --about $1500.)
The faces of the four men are distinctive and it is possible they correspond to real persons known to the artist. Charpentier may have been poking sly fun at numismatists, showing them naked in a sauna-like setting, oblivious to all but the medal --about 80mm-- being shown. Even in bronze, this wonderfully spirited piece may reach four figures, as opportunities to acquire it probably number one or two per decade. Edge number 244. Rich brown patina. Obverse nearly SUPERB MINT STATE, reverse
ALMOST UNCIRCULATED.