DESPREZ Barthélémy HANGING MEDALLion adorned in the center with a crystalloceram representing a profile of a marshal of the Empire in bust turned to the right. Gilt bronze suspension ring supported by foliage. French work from the Restoration period. Signed "Desprez rue des Récolets n°2 à Paris". Diameter: 8.5 cm Desprez, sculptor at the Manufacture de Sèvres in 1773, premier sculpteur in 1780, chef des pâtes in 1786, perfected a new cameo-making technique. He left Sèvres in 1792 to set up his own porcelain cameo factory.

Composed of several subsidiaries, the Drouot Group is a major player in the art market. Hôtel Drouot, located in the heart of Paris, has been the world's largest public auction center since 1852. 15 salerooms are available to more than 70 auction houses. The emulation generated by an annual offer of 230,000 artworks from 21 major specialities - from Antiquity to street art - attracts some 3,000 visitors every day. The Group's digital platform, Drouot.com, offers digital sales - Live auctions (live broadcasting and participation in auctions), Online-only auctions (dematerialised auctions) and Buy Now sales (sales of lots at fixed prices). Nearly 2 million items are offered annually by 600 auction houses. Auction news is reported every week in La Gazette Drouot, the leading weekly magazine for the art market and culture published by Auctionspress.