1075 - Silver plaquette “La Source” after Daniel-Dupuis, Monnaie de Paris, Art Nouveau

Silver plaquette “La Source” after Daniel-Dupuis, Monnaie de Paris, Art Nouveau Silver, upright rectangular two-sided plaquette after the design by Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis, 1849 Blois to 1899 Paris, of 1898. Obverse: a female nude in full figure, turned to the right and bending far forward, drinking from her cupped hands at the spring of a wall fountain overgrown with foliage, her long hair gathered; before her a shallow fountain basin on a fluted column with a cloth spread over its rim. At upper left a small rectangular field with the mirrored monogram DD, at lower right the signature “DANIEL-DUPUIS”. Reverse: a winged putto lying on his stomach on the crest of a rock and gazing into the distance, below reeds and water; also signed at lower left. Edge stamped “ARGENT” and a further indistinct mark. Slight scratches. 6.7x3.6 cm (HxW), 54 g. Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis was a painter, sculptor and one of the leading French medallists of his time. He studied from 1865 at the École des Beaux-Arts under Jules Cavelier, won the Second Grand Prix de Rome in 1868 and the First in 1872 for medal and gem engraving, and the gold medal of the Paris World’s Fair in 1889. His best-known work is the design of the blue and pink 500-franc note, which remained in circulation from 1888 to 1943 owing to its security against forgery. The Monnaie de Paris has stamped the edge of every medal since the 19th century: the cornucopia replaced the previously used bee on 1 January 1880, and the metal designation “ARGENT” written in full stands for silver.