The Medal With 'No Name'

[constanius]

 

I brought this medal from a dealer over ebay, I thought he had it listed incorrectly, and he had.

 

This was his description

 

"FRANCE --- ASSASSINATION OF JEAN-PAUL MARAT, ORIGINAL BRONZE MEDAL BY ROGAT AFTER DAVID (1835)

Attractive high-relief bronze medal by E. ROGAT after P.J. DAVID 1835, diameter 42 mm, rim thickness 4 mm, mass 44.3 grams, plain edge (NO Mint markings on the edge).

Marat was assassinated in 1793. This medal was struck in 1835"

 

I have since found out who it actually is, but thought it might amuse someone to give it a shot at 'beating the dealer'

 

The obverse is: E.Rogat 1835. D'APRES P. J. DAVID

The reverse is: SI PARMI LES MEMBRES

DE CETTE CHAMBRE IL EN EST UN QUI SOIT BLESSE DE MES PAROLES QU'IL ME DÉNONCE ET M'APPELLE A CETTE BARRE J'Y COMPARAITRAI,

ET JE SERAI FIER D'ÊTRE LE PREMIER HOMME DE LA

GENERATION DE 1830 QUI VIENDRA PROTESTER ICI

CONTRE UN ABOMINABLE ASSASSINAT.

[bill]

Is that Louis Philippe with reference to a failed assassination attempt?

[constanius]

Is that Louis Philippe with reference to a failed assassination attempt?

 

Nice try Bil, but sorry no cigar. I think thats why the dealer went with Marat, because he was assassinated. My avatar (Duc de Berry) was and there were quite a few attempts during those turbulent times, but the man depicted on the medal was not in fact assassinated, though he did die in rather unusual circumstances, but that was after this medal was struck. Thanks for trying Bill, you can have as many goes as you like.

Perhaps I should add he is not very well known outside France.

[frank]

This is a tough one. I'm assuming the man pictured was a député of the Assemblée Nationale? And that the medal was probably struck between 1848 and 1851?

[constanius]

This is a tough one. I'm assuming the man pictured was a député of the Assemblée Nationale? And that the medal was probably struck between 1848 and 1851?

 

I believe it was struck in 1835, as dated. He died the following year and there is no mention of that, mind there is no name either(which does seem a bit strange).

 

He was not a deputy, but was speaking as an advocate for a defendant being tried by the "Chamber of Peers". The reverse of the medal is an abridged part of that speech, in which he tries to defend the position that a notable person executed by order of the same chamber in 1815 was in fact assassinated, albeit judicially. Strangely that person's name is also not mentioned nor the defendants. Which makes it hard to track the medal down.

 

There is a bronze statue, of the man on the medal, in the Louvre, Paris. Plus though he was acting as an advocate, he was not a lawyer.

[frank]

Well, jeepers, I finally found the answer: link to French text

 

Thanks for the hints Constanius; I really had no clue. But I learned a lot searching!

 

I've had to edit this post, since I initially thought it was Adolphe Thiers on the medal --an active participant in the 1830 revolution and someone who always publically deplored the execution of Maréchal Ney in 1815. But it REALLY doesn't look like Thiers. In the passage I've linked above, it's Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Armand Carrel (1800-1836) who makes the speech about Ney's execution being an "abominable assassination." I've never heard of Carrel... until now. Here's a link telling about his life: Link

[constanius]

Well done Frank, you and I both learned a lot, when I bought it I knew it was not Marat but did not know who it was. The abominable assassination was Neys. Listed in Collignon's "la médaille française au XIXe siècle et l'histoire" as #1097.

 

Here is an english translation of his speech before it was condensed for the reverse of the medal and Ney's name removed.

 

" If, among the peers who voted for the death of Marshal Ney, — if, among the peers who sit within these walls, there be one who feels himself aggrieved by my words, let him make a motion against me; let him denounce me at this bar ; I will appear to the charge. I shall be proud of being the first man of the generation of 1830, to come here and protest, in the name of indignant France, aguinst that abominable murder."

 

 

Here is the named portrait(1832) of Carrel by Pierre-Jean David d’Angers used as a model by Rogat in 1835 for his medal.

[bill]

Thank you for the challenge. Alas, I did not find the correct answer, but I enjoyed the search, however brief it might have been. In the process, I learned more than I knew yesterday--and I had a good time. Ah, the joys of collecting medals, tokens, and other items of historical interest.