The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals

FRANCE, Automobile-Club de Nice, 1901, a silver award plaque by A. Maillard, semi-naked female figure to right, holding wreath above a motorist driving a car along a coastal road, sun reflecting over sea in background, rev. palm branch, tablet in centre named (Mr. Maurice Dollfus, Course de Côte 1909 (Route de la Turbie), Catégorie V, 2e. Prix), edge impressed argent and with foundry mark, 71 x 55mm, 124.82g (cf. PBE 575; BDM III, 532; cf. DNW 44, 968). Good very fine and toned, rare £120-£150

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

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DNW Auction 34, 6 February 1998, lot 565

Maurice Dollfus (1885-1972), a pioneer racing motorist and later Paris-based banker, was appointed head of the French operations of the Ford Motor Co in 1930 and, despite accusations of him being a Nazi collaborator during the War, led the company until January 1950. His early award was for the sport of hillclimbing on mountain roads; until recent years competitors in the Monte-Carlo Rally used part of the same la Turbie road, in the Alps above the principality, as a special stage. The original design for the plaque was commissioned by the Automobile-Club de Nice in 1901 and exhibited by Maillard at that year’s Paris Salon.