This Pantre medal of Le Club du Cirque, founded in 1949, was awarded to the eminent circus historian, author, collector and performer Antony Hippisley-Coxe (1912-1988), whose collection of circus ephemera and books was presented to the Victoria & Albert Museum. The Pantre medal, symbol of the Circus Club, is given by members of the steering committee or regional presidents of the club to honour artists, circus directors, and personalities who contribute to the prosperity and interests of the circus community worldwide.

The forerunner of the Club du Cirque, The Friends of the Circus, was created in 1933. Sixteen years later on 9th April 1949 the club was reconstituted in Paris, with twenty-six members, as Le Club du Cirque, by the journalist, historian, animal trainer and author of La Merveilleuse Histoire du Cirque, Henry Thétard. Its members include circus artists, historians, journalists, critics, writers, poets, painters, sculptors, collectors, photographers, and circus enthusiasts united by the love of the circus and the spectacle of the ring.