Prize medal for the International Cattle Show at the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris
François Joseph Hubert Ponscarme (Belmont-lès-Darney 1827 - Malakoff 1903)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1879 - 1882 (this version 1889)
Materials
Metal
Measurements
2 mm (Height); 33.3 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Paris
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 849226
Summary
Medal, gold; Ministry of Agriculture medal for the Paris Universal Exhibition; Hubert Ponscarme (1827-1903); Paris, 1879-1882, this example 1889. In 1889 the French government organized an enormous ‘Universal Exhibition’ in Paris, which attracted more than 32 million visitors over the six months during which it was open. One of the main attractions of the fair for the visiting public, and its main reminder today, was the tall iron viewing tower known as the Eiffel Tower. This is one of four medals, one gold and three silver, won by Frederick William Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834-1907), who sent four of his Suffolk sheep for exhibition in the adjoining ‘Breeding Stock’ fair run alongside the main fair. The medal was designed by the leading French medallist and sculptor Hubert Ponscarme (1827-1903) for the French Ministry of Agriculture, which used it as a prize medal at various agricultural events over many years. It features on the obverse a portrait of Mercury, who was not only the god of travellers but also of commerce and trade.
Full description
A gold medal awarded at the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1889. On the obverse is a winged head of Mercury in profile, facing left. On the reverse, an inscribed tablet fixed to a caduceus, surrounded by agricultural products, including vine leaves and grapes, ears of corn, sugar cane and palms. Signed on both obverse and reverse, and with an inscription on the tablet recording a prize for sheep. One of a group of four medals at Ickwoth, this one in gold and three in silver (NT 849223.1-3). The silver versions are significantly larger than the gold medal. The medal is by the French sculptor and medallist François Joseph Hubert Ponscarme (1827-1903). Ponscarme was borne in the Vosges region of France. First intended for the priesthood, his passion for the art of engraving quickly asserted itself and he went to Paris to train under the medallists Eugène-André Oudiné (1810-1887) and Louis Merley (1815-1883). Ponscarme began making medals in the late 1840s, but his career took off in the 1850s, when he became the official medallist to the Emperor Napoleon III. In 1871 Ponscarme was appointed professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. He is regarded as a great innovator in the story of the medal in nineteenth-century France. His portrait medal of Joseph Naudet, made in 1867, was seen to mark a turning point, because of its naturalistic and artistic treatment of the portrait of the subject – qualities that are to be seen in the portrait of Mercury in the medal made for the Ministry of Agriculture. Another of Ponscarme’s innovations was the removal of the hitherto all but obligatory rim with its legend so that, in many of his portrait medals, the head floats free against a neutral ground without any lettering. Simplicity and harmoniousness in both design and execution were the stylistic principles that governed Ponscarme’s medallic works, whilst he always sought to give the subjects of his portraits a great nobility. He stated that his guiding principle in his art was that ‘L’art n’est rien s’il ne dit rien’ (‘Art is nothing if it has nothing to say’). The medal for the Ministry of Agriculture is variously dated between 1879 and 1882. The image of Mercury and his caduceus, set amidst a wonderful gathering of plants produced in agriculture, must refer to the god’s role as the deity of commerce and trade. The medal was used on numerous occasions over the next decades for prizes awarded under the auspices of the Ministry. As the prize inscription on the reverse is in relief, the medals must have been produced on demand, presumably by the Paris Mint. The gold medal and three other examples in silver (NT 849223.1-3) were presented to Frederick William Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834-1907), for prizes won by four Suffolk sheep that he sent for exhibition at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, held in Paris between May to October 1889. The exhibition, the fifth in a series of no fewer than ten major international exhibitions organised in Paris between 1855 and 1937, specifically celebrated the centenary of the French Revolution. The exhibition had more than 62,000 exhibitors, some 25,000 from outside France, and attracted more than thirty-two million visitors. The 1889 exhibition was held on two sites, the Champs de Mars, a former parade ground in front of the Invalides, and a site across the river including the Trocadero palace, which had been built for the 1878 Paris exhibition, which had also occupied the two sites. The major surviving new building created for the 1889 exhibition is the Eiffel Tower. Lord Bristol ’s involvement was with the agricultural section of the exhibition, known as the International Cattle Show, which was sited just beyond the Champ de Mars, on the quai d’Orsay next to the river Seine. This exhibition of livestock opened in the first week in July 1889 and ran for just that one week. There seem to have been quite tight restrictions on exhibits, in particular because of the French government’s requirement that any animals sent to the exhibition from abroad had to remain in France. Press reports suggest that in the end there were in fact very few exhibitors. Lord Bristol sent just four of his Suffolk sheep, a ram aged 15 months and another aged 27 months, and two sheep, one aged 15 months and the other 30 months. As well as Lord Bristol there was one other Suffolk-based exhibitor, the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, who sent pigs and sheep. Despite the absence of large-scale competition, the East Anglian newspapers were subsequently cock-a-hoop with the success of their local exhibitors. The Ipswich Journal (19 July 1889) commented that ‘Honours upon Honours were gained by exhibitors from Suffolk and adjacent counties’, whilst the Bury and Norwich Post (23 July 1889) reported that fourteen prizes were awarded for just eighteen entries from the county. Lord Bristol was awarded a grand prix d’honneur for his Suffolk sheep, the gold medal (value as a prize, 500 francs) plus 300 francs for the 15 months ram, second prize of a silver medal plus 200 francs for the 27 months ram. The other two silver medals plus 200 francs each were awarded for the two sheep. Most of the other prizes went to the Duke of Hamilton and his pigs. Jeremy Warren December 2025
Provenance
Awarded as a prize in Paris in July 1889, to Frederick William Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol (1834-1907). By descent as part of the Bristol Collection. The house and contents were acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to the National Trust in 1956.
Marks and inscriptions
Obverse legend : RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE Artist’s signature, at bottom : PONSCARME Reverse legend : MINISTÈRE DE L’AGRICULTURE Tablet : EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE / 1889 / ANIMAUX VIVANTS / ESPÈCE OVINE Artist’s signature, at bottom : PONSCARME Stamped on edge : OR
Makers and roles
François Joseph Hubert Ponscarme (Belmont-lès-Darney 1827 - Malakoff 1903) , medallist
References
Chevreux 1903: Paul Chevreux, Le Sculpteur-Médailleur H. Ponscarme 1827-1903, Épinal 1903, pp. 32 & 56 Forrer 1904-30: Leonard Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of medallists : coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, etc., ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900, 8 vols., London 1904-30, IV, pp. 654-64 Paris 1967 : La Médaille en France de Ponscarme à la fin de la Belle Époque, exh.cat., Hôtel de la Monnaie, Paris 1967, pp.107-15, nos. 725-69