Guillaume Dupré (c. 1579-1640), Pierre Jeannin as Privy Councillor and Superintendent of Finances, large uniface bronze medal, 1618, PETRVS IEANNIN REG CHRIST A SECR CONS ET SAC AERA PRAEF, bust right wearing magistrates’ robes; signed and dated below truncation, G DVPRE F 1618, 189mm (Jones 50; Mazerolle 683; Kress 564 = Pollard 646; Scher, Currency of Fame, 149; Kress 564 = Pollard 646; Scaglia 466; Smolderen 28), pierced, scratches in the right hand field beneath the brown/black patina, an extremely fine contemporary cast (reverse with incuse image), very rare Provenance: John R. Gaines collection.One of the most astute and influential diplomats in France during the first two decades of the seventeenth century, Jeannin was regularly called upon to arbitrate on disputes between Louis XIII and his mother (Marie de’ Medici). Jeannin was seventy-eight when this medal was made; executed after the sculptor’s stay in Italy, it has been widely praised as “the finest of his [Dupré's] great medallions” (Mark Jones, The Art of the Medal, 1979, p. 75) and “perhaps Dupré’s finest work … his most noble composition” (Anne Poulet, Currency of Fame, 1994, pp. 334-335). For an example of the second version of this medal, see lot 126.

Estimate: GBP 6000 - 8000