Bidspirit auction | Alphonse Legros, Bronze Commemorative Plaque

Alphonse Legros, Bronze Commemorative Plaque for French Medalists, Monnaie de Paris - Alphonse Legros (1837-1911) designed this cast bronze commemorative plaque as a tribute to the leading French medalists of his era. The item was produced by the Monnaie de Paris, as indicated by the cornucopia mint mark and the word BRONZE stamped on the bottom edge. The obverse depicts an allegorical nude woman inscribing the names of twelve masters (Oudine, J.C. Chaplain, Roty, Chapu, Degeorge, Duvivier, Bottee, Patey, Lagrange, Vernon, Dubois, and Flameng) onto a tablet. The scene includes an oak tree and a sculptor's workstation equipped with a vise. The Latin inscriptions read MAGISTRIS CELATORIBUS and IN AETERNUM. The reverse is decorated with a relief of a laurel branch and bears the artist's intertwined monogram AL in the bottom left corner. The bronze features a uniform golden-brown patina. 2.5 x 1.75 x 0.15 inches.