FRANCE. Visit of the Russian Fleet to Toulon Bronze Medal, 1893. Paris Mint. UNCIRCULATED.
Maier-76; Dia-1087.1. Weight: 153.2 gms; diameter: 70mm. By JC Chaplain. Obverse: Double female profiles - France as young woman at right in foreground wearing laurel wreath in hairband, her long hair loosely tied up at the back; her wrist bracelet inscribed "Paix". Russia appears in left background with imperial crown, wearing four necklaces of pearls. Below two hands clasp in gesture of peace and comity, RUSSIE. FRANCE. PAIX around; Reverse: Marianne facing right into the background to welcome the Russian fleet. She wears a Phrygian liberty cap, dressed in classical robes blowing in the wind beside a lamp post, to which are tied several French flags on spear-tipped flagpoles. A bouquet of flowers tied with a ribbon rests at her feet before a mooring post for a ship, her hands raised high in welcome. At the right in the background are four warships, two triple-masted, two double-masted, all with steam engine stacks sailing into the harbor, VISITE DE L'ESCADRE RUSSE A TOULON 13 OCTOBRE 1893 in upper center. Rim: Stamped "Bronze" with Paris Mint cornucopia hallmark. In response to the Triple Alliance between the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires and Italy, France entered a military alliance with Russia. This visit of a Russian squadron of warships to Toulon reciprocated an earlier visit of French naval forces to the Russian port of Kronstadt. The obverse design of this medal is identical, excepting format, to the 1896 porcelain Sèvres medal commemorating the Russian emperor and empress's visit to the Sèvres factory. References: - Marx, Les médailleurs Française contemporains, [pl. 3, #4-5] - Mazerolle 1897, 97; Migeon, "Chaplain", 1900, 104 - Monnaie de Paris, 1967, #59, 110 - Maier, Französische Medaillenkunst, #76
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From the Stephen R. Parks Collection of Medallic Arts.

Estimate: $150.00- $300.00