586 - Bronze Medal Orphée by Lucien Coudray, French Art Nouveau circa 1900

Bronze Medal Orphée by Lucien Coudray, French Art Nouveau circa 1900 Bronze medal, signed on one side. The obverse shows the head of Orpheus in three-quarter profile with flowing hair and laurel branches, a lyre in one hand, signed LCOUDRAY in the field at the right. The reverse shows a winged genius seated with outspread wings on an empty dedication cartouche, a writing implement in his hand, surrounded by laurel, a scroll of music and a violin with bow. The edge marked Bronze, beside it a cornucopia as a hallmark. Condition commensurate with age, small nicks in places. Diam. 6.8 cm. Marie Alexandre Lucien Coudray, born in Paris in 1864 and died in Seyssel in 1932, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and in 1893 received the Premier Grand Prix de Rome for medal engraving, for the design Orphée endort Cerbère aux sons de sa lyre on which this medal is based. It was struck in 1899 at the Monnaie de Paris; at the Paris World Exposition of 1900, at which Coudray received a silver medal, it found buyers in large numbers. The medal appeared in several modules from about 41 mm to 115 mm as well as in silver-plated, gilt and solid silver versions. The cornucopia on the edge is the mark of the Monnaie de Paris, which has identified bronze medals struck there since 1880. The cartouche left empty on the reverse was intended for an engraved dedication by the donor of the respective prize.