Presented is a fantastic quality silver plaque or medal commemorating the first centennial of the Republic of Chile, by Rene Lalique. The face of the plaque depicts a woman standing on a plinth, holding a branch and surrounded by tall sheafs of wheat and rose bushes. At the top are the dates 1810 and 1910, with “18 Setiembre” between. The reverse shows a mountainous landscape, with the flag of Chile in the foreground, a firework exploding behind and the coat of arms for Chile beneath. All the work is exceptionally detailed and well cast, very crisp and faithful as you'd expect for Lalique. In our research we found other examples of this medal which were significantly less detailed, with substantially lower quality casting, presumably repros or re-issues; this is not such a piece, it is original and very high quality. The medal is solid and quite heavy, about 4.5 millimeters thick. Please note, we also have the bronze version of this medal for sale, which you can find by searching “Chile” in our storefront.
The front of the plaque is signed R. Lalique, in the lower righthand corner. Along the bottom edge is a stamp of ARGENT, for silver, and two small hallmarks. This piece is nitric acid tested and guaranteed high purity silver (at least 925), we believe it to be 950 purity, French 1st standard, since it is a French made piece.
This piece is in excellent condition. The details of the casting are sharp and crisp. No breaks and no repairs.
The plaque measures about 2 3/8 by 1 5/8 inches, LxW.
This piece weighs 103 grams or 3.6 regular ounces. -jm
