FRANCE. National College of Applied Arts Bronze Medal, 1890. Paris Mint. UNCIRCULATED.
Maier-70; Mazerolle-39. Weight: 145.35 gms; diameter: 68mm. By JC Chaplain. Obverse: female figure in classical robes facing left, holding shears in her left hand, a cut flower in her right. A nude boy, presumably a student at the school, sits atop a composite Corinthian capital, holds up a pencil or burin in his right hand while propping up a notebook or slab on his lap, looking up to the flower and the eyes of the woman. At their feet a sculptor's mallet, a painter's palette with brushes, a basket with rolling gears. In the background is a magnificent low-relief of the Beaux-Art façade of the school building with mansard roof, FERD[INAN]D DUTERT ARCHITECTE below; Reverse: nude winged boy standing contrapposto atop a dais, his right arm cocked holding an olive branch over his shoulder, which is tied at the center with a ribbon. His left hand leans upon a shield standing on the dais, emblazoned with the arms of the Commune of Roubaix, a northern French industrial town near Lille, ÉCOLE NATIONAL[E] DES ARTS INDUSTRIELS FONDÉE PAR LE GOUVERNEMENT DE LA REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE [A]VEC LE CONCOURS DE LA VILLE DE ROUBAIX INAUGURÉE LE 1ER OCTOBRE 1890 to right, additional inscription at left, inscribed at 8 o'clock: EXEMPLAIRE DE COLLECTION. Edge stamp: Bronze, with Paris Mint cornucopia hallmark. Inauguration of the National College of Applied Arts, Roubaix, 1890. The school was founded in 1881, and built 1886-89. This medal marks the inauguration ceremony convened on October 1st, 1890. Today the building is occupied by the École nationale supérieure des arts et industries textiles (ENSAIT), a French Engineering grande école dedicated to all disciplines in the textile arts. References: - Marx, Les médailleurs Française contemporains, [pl. 6, bleu, #7, 10] - Mazerolle 1897, #39 - Maier, Französische Medaillenkunst, #70
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From the Stephen R. Parks Collection of Medallic Arts.

Estimate: $100.00- $200.00