Attributed to Edmé Bouchardon Chaumont 1698 - 1762 Paris

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Description

Edmé Bouchardon
two designs for medals: heroum propago and foedus versaliis sancitum
inscribed: a) HEROUM PROPAGO/LUD.ELIZ.R.F.NUPTA/PHIL.HISP.INFANTI/M.DCC.XXXIX.; b) FOEDUS VERSALIIS SANCITUM/PRIMA DIE MAII/M.DCC.LVI.
bear inscriptions on the old mounts: a) Le 17 avril 1760 remis a m Roitter le fils/le present dessin; b) le 16 Juin 1758 remis am. duvivier le fils/le dessein pour l'Executer du diamettre -/de 18 lignes. histoire du Roy -/lalliance entre la france et la Reine/de hongrie
both red chalk, both circular

Provenance

Austin Gunnison (1833-1915) (probably purchased by him in Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 1880);
thence by descent to his grandson, Winslow Ames

Literature

F. Mazerolle, Les dessins de médailles et de jetons attribués au sculpteur Edme Bouchardon, Paris, 1898, cat. nos. 89 and 120;
W. Ames, 'Bouchardon and Company', Master Drawings, vol.XIII, no.4, 1975, p. 396, no.45; p.395, no.41; reproduced plates 42a and 37b

Catalogue Note

From 1737 until his death, Bouchardon was employed by Louis XV to produce designs for medals and jetons (tokens) for execution by the graveurs-médailleurs who cut dies for the mint. The subjects and mottoes were chosen by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres; the finished drawings were generally mounted on blue paper and shown to the King for his approval. In some cases the mounts were then annotated with the name of the die-cutter and the date on which they were given to him. Large groups of the designs are in Paris, in the Bibliothèque de l'Institut and in the Musée de la Monnaie, and another group was sold in New York, Sotheby's, 10 January 1995, lot 64, and is now in the Fogg Art Museum.

The present designs both portray scenes of unity: one celebrates the marriage of Louise-Elizabeth, daughter of Louis XV, to Philippe, the Infante of Spain, the other portrays France and Austria shaking hands. For further information on the medals for which they were designed, see Médailles françaises dont les coins sont conservés au musée Monétaire, Paris 1833 and 1892, cat. nos. 89 and 135, and H. Nocq, Les Duvivier, Paris 1911, cat. nos. 132 and 145.