La Régement de la Calotte
395, Lot: 516. Estimate $100. Sold for $260. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
|
FRANCE, Royal. temp. Louis XV le Bien-Aimé (the Well-Beloved). 1715–1774. Æ Medal (44mm, 38.72 g, 12h).
La Régiment de la Calotte. Paris mint. Struck circa 1720. RIDERE REGNARE EST (
to laugh is to rule), Folley seated slightly right on throne set upon clouds, holding scepter surmounted by Jester’s head / LUNA DUCE AUSPICE MOMO (
under the guidance of the moon and the auspices of Momus), coat-of-arms of the
régiment: oval shield decorated with the three phases of the moon above scepter, surmounted by Jester’s head, set on field of bees; above, facing helmet decorated with bells and surmounted by weathervane above cat left; to left and right, simian supporters, each with heads turned outward and holding smoking cornucopias; all set on floral scroll. Adams S-3; Betts 66-70, n. 3. EF, brown surfaces. Rare and historically interesting.
From the J. Eric Engstrom Collection.
Most likely struck for the Régiment de la Calotte, a festive and carnival society of military origin, this medal has been traditionally ascribed to John Law, the famous Scottish economist of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Surrounded by a bad reputation for the disastrous results of his financial and economic adventures – such as the Mississippi bubble – he is now considered to have been a forerunner in his field. The whimsical nature of this medal could be viewed as a satire upon Law, but the later attribution is indeed accurate, as the reverse bears the coat-of-arms and banner of the jovial French society.