418, Lot: 566. Estimate $200. Sold for $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRANCE, Troisième République. 1870-1940. Æ Medal (106.5mm, 583.7 g). The Spirit of Music – “Orphée endort Cerbère aux sons de sa lyre”. By Marie Alexandre Lucien Coudray. Struck 1900. Laureate bust of Orpheus facing slightly right, head turned slightly left, holding lyre / Blank. BRONZE and cornucopia on edge. EF.

Collector’s note for section: “Marie Alexandre Lucien Coudray, French sculptor and medalist, was born at Paris on the 21st day of February, 1864. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1882 and became a pupil of Dumont, Thomas, Allouard, and Ponscarme. In 1893, he won the Grand Prix de Rome for a bas-relief representing Orpheus at the Gates of Hell, a theme which he later reprised with his most famous work, the Orpheus medallion. The artist devoted most of his time to medal-engraving and imitated the artists of the Renaissance, by preparing his own castings, not without meeting with the greatest success.The following 5 offerings are examples of his most famous work of all, the Orpheus facing-head medal. Struck in various diameters (112mm, 68mm, 50mm, 40-41mm, 36mm, 27mm) and metals (bronze, silver-plated, and gold-plated). Except for the smallest, which is a later re-strike, all date from the early 20th century, with cornucopia edge mark denoting an original strike. The largest size (112mm) is harder to acquire, as is the gold-plated specimen.”