The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals (Part I)

FRANCE, Société Lyonnaise des Forces Motrices du Rhône, 1892 [struck c. 1900], a plated bronze Art Nouveau award plaque by A.C. Vermare, male swimming to left, personifying Rhône, naked female above him converting electricity to light through her arms over a distant cityscape of Lyon, rev. the Cusset hydroelectric plant in foreground, wreathed tablet above, un-named, edge impressed bronze and cornucopia, 90 x 66mm, 210.35g (PBE 931, recté A.C. Vermare; cf. iNumis MBS 49, 1077; cf. DNW 48, 876). Extremely fine £60-£80

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals.

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bt J. Lis, July 2006

Unusually, this plaque bears a second date long into the future – 1991 – from its time of striking. This reflects the fact that on 9 July 1892 the Société Lyonnaise des Forces Motrices du Rhône was granted the concession to implement and operate the distribution of electric energy produced by a waterfall derived from the river Rhône upstream of Lyon. The concession, for 99 years, ran from 7 November 1892 to 9 July 1991, but in reality the company only lasted until 1931. The reverse depicts the Cusset hydroelectric plant in Villeurbanne, construction of which was completed in 1899.