Medal thumbnail 1
Medal thumbnail 2
+1
images
Not currently on display at the V&A

Medal


Portrait medallion, round, with profile portrait of Xavier Sigalon (facing to the right, with fairly straight hair and more curly long sideburns and wearing a small cap) in bronze with goldish coloured patina. Signed, dated and inscribed in informal lettering style.
No foundry mark. diam. 167.5mm


Object details

Object type
Materials and techniques
Bronze, sand cast
Brief description
Medal, portrait of Xavier Sigalon, bronze, sand cast, by Auguste Préault, signed and dated August 1830
Physical description
Portrait medallion, round, with profile portrait of Xavier Sigalon (facing to the right, with fairly straight hair and more curly long sideburns and wearing a small cap) in bronze with goldish coloured patina. Signed, dated and inscribed in informal lettering style.
No foundry mark. diam. 167.5mm
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 167.5mm
Marks and inscriptions
  • PREAULT (on underside of neck, difficult to read )
  • XAVIER.SIGALON/PICTOR. (In 'handwritten' lettering style, around the edge of the medallion, to the left and then to the right of the portrait )
  • Preault AUG 1830 (On the flat surface under the portrait)
Object history
This is one of three known versions of this portrait medallion. The one in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lille (diam 157mm) has an indistinct, simpler inscription; it may have been a trial, the earliest version, which did not turn out as intended and so was retained in Préault’s studio. The ‘V&A’ version (d.167.5mm) and another in a private collection in N America in 1980 (d.187mm), both larger and with clear inscriptions and more detail (signature and date), are likely to have been produced subsequently. The portrait itself is identical in the three versions, and they are likely to have been cast from different models all taken from the same master model, with slightly different inscriptions added to each (note for instance differences in letter spacing), by the same hand.
Collection
Accession number
A.10-2015

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdSeptember 3, 2015
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest