Exonumia Auction - Maine Antique Digest

Lot 1563 (reduced)Bronzed White Metal. Signed with monogram “SB.” Uniface. XFwith a few scattered areas of light corrosion, The plaque has beennailed at the corners onto an 8 1/.2 x 7 7/8” wooden board paintedblack. Within a center circle is a raised bust to the left of the reveredCzech patriot. Surrounding the upper half of the portrait in a Czechinscription which translates as “Thomas Masaryk. Liberator andFirst President of the Czech Republic.” (E)FRANCELot 1562The company was established by Salomon Elias Levy Maduro in1837. He started his own ship’s agency and bunkering servicescompany in the port of Curacao. During the years that followedhis sons entered into the business and as S.E.L. Maduro & Sonsit evolved into a conglomerate of innovative companies involved inreal estate, travel/leisure activities and a variety of services to theshipping and transportation industry.1564. LAFAYETTE – HERO AND DEFENDER OF LIBERTY IN TWOWORLDS, 1790. Fuld LA. 1790.4. 41.6mm. Bronze. Plain Edge.Benjamin Duvivier, Sc. Extremely Fine with field consistent withthe grade. The obverse legend, M.P.J.R.I.G. MOTIER MQUIS DELA FAYETTE NE LE 6. SEPT.: 1757 surrounds a military bust ofLafayette to the left. In the exergue: OFFERT PAR.B. DUVIVIER/A LA GARDE NATIONLE. The reverse legend, VENGEUR DELA LIBERTE DANS LES DEUX MONDES surrounds an 11 lineinscription: MAJOR GENERAL/ DANS LES ARMEES/ DES ETATSUNIS D’AMERICQE/ EN 1777/ MARESCHAL DE CAMP,/ VICEPRESIDT/ DE L;ASSEMBLEE/ NATIONALE LE 12 JUILLET/COMMANDANT GENERL/ DE LA GARDE NATONE PARISE/ LE1 JUILLET/ 1789.This medal is said to have been commissioned in 1789 by KingLouis XVI to honor Lafayette and his role in the opening events ofthe French Revolution. This is one of the earliest of the medals ofLafayette. It was struck from the original dies with a plain edge bythe Paris Mint. (F)A sculptor and poet, Onorio Ruotolo (1888-1966) was bornin Cervinara, Italy. He came to the United States in 1908. Hedeveloped a refined social conscience which he expressed incartoons, poetry, and sculpture. In 1914 he co-founded Il Fuoco,a magazine of arts and politics. In 1922 he founded the LeonardoDa Vinci Art School , “an idealistic, initially tuition-free effort forthe working poor partly financed by labor unions that struggledon for two decades. None of the staff were paid.” He is knownto medal collectors primarily for his inauguration medal of FiorelloLaguardia and his Italian-American Medal to Italo Balbo. DavidAlexander penned a fine review of Ruotolo and his numismaticefforts in the MCA Advisory Vol.10, Number 8. Aug. 2007. http://www.medalcollectors.org/pdf/august2007.pdf (F)CZECHOSLOVAKIA1563. TOMAS MASARYK PORTRAIT PLAQUE, ND. 4 3/4 x 31/2”Lot 15651565. LAFAYETTE – HERO AND DEFENDER OF LIBERTY IN TWOWORLDS, 1790. LA 1790.7. 41.4mm. White Metal. F/VF. Crudelycast copy of Duvivier’s medal as offered above and a retrogradedate on the obverse. Olivier states, This medal is a popularreproduction, poorly engraved and cast, of Duvivier’s medal. Itexists in many varieties, some being distinguished by the thicknessH212