A Collection of European Art Medals

FRANCE, Jeunesse, 1899 [issued 1900], a bronze plaque by J.-P. Legastelois for the SAMF, bust of a girl right, rev. irises, edge stamped 283, 60 x 47mm (Maier 1; PBE 529; Classens 60; ANS Exh. Cat. 1910, p.309, 21; Coll. R. Marx 89; BDM III, 372; cf. Baldwin 81, 3520). Very fine, rare £150-£200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of European Art Medals.

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Julien-Prosper Legastelois (1855-1931), the Parisian sculptor and medallist, studied under Oscar Roty; his Jeunesse was the first issue of the new Société des Amis de la Médaille Française, founded by the art critic Roger Marx (1859-1914) in February 1899. The SAMF was responsible for 63 different medals during its short life (ceasing to exist in 1910, with the last medals distributed in May 1920), and Marx was responsible for engaging some of the most celebrated fin de siècle French medallists to design them; being limited issues, all are rare