Circular silvered bronze medal with oak wreath suspension; the face with a laurel-crowned female head facing left wearing a Phrygian bonnet, circumscribed ‘REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE’, signed ‘F. VERNON’ (for the Art Nouveau artist and medallist Frédéric Charles Victor de Vernon, 1858-1912); the reverse inscribed ‘DÉCERNÉ À MR.’ (Awarded to Mr.) within a laurel wreath, circumscribed ‘SOCIÉTÉ DES SAUVETEURS D’EURE ET LOIR CHARTRES’ (Society of the Life Savers of Eure et Loir, Chartres); silvering worn, a small bump to the edge of the base; on original somewhat frayed ribbon. The department of Eure et Loir is about 85 km (50 miles) south-west of Paris. The Society was founded at Chartres in 1891 and this medal, awarded for life-saving, dates from that period. An early award by a renowned artist.
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