Ancient, Celtic, British and World Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

France, Amicitia, a uniface bronze plaquette by René Gregoire, c. 1900, young woman with flowing hair and wearing a diaphanous robe seated, her right arm on an easel, her other arm resting on the shoulder of a naked young woman at her feet, antique columns and a lake on which swims a swan behind; the plaquette mounted on wood. Extremely fine, sensitively and softly modelled (£120-150)

Whether Gregoire intended this image simply to portray the innocent pleasures of female friendship we will never know, but it the luxuriance of the setting and the expressions of the two young women seems to hint at a relationship more physical. Whatever the case the study is modelled with Gregoire’s usual skill and sensitivity to the beauty of the female form.