Six-pointed silver-gilt and white enamel star with a wreath of wheat and maize between the arms, with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a circular central silver-gilt medallion bearing a laurel-crowned female head facing right, representative of the French Republic, encircled by a blue enamel ring bearing the inscription in gilt letters ‘REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE’, an arabesque below; the reverse with a circular central silver-gilt medallion bearing the inscription ‘MERITE / AGRICOLE / 1883’ encircled by a blue enamel ring; slight loss of blue enamel from the ring of the face and a small chip to the white enamel of the tips of the lower left arm of the face and reverse; on original ribbon with rosette denoting an award of the officer class. The Order was created on 7 July 1883 to reward exception service to agriculture and its development. It is notable that this Order was one of just four specialised orders (along with the Academic Palms, Order of Maritime Merit and Order of Arts and Letters) that were not replaced by the National Order of Merit in 1963, testifying both to its long history and to the unique place of agriculture in the history, economy and culture of France.
|