Frédéric-Charles-Victor de VERNON (1858-1912), - Lot 5

Frédéric-Charles-Victor de VERNON (1858-1912), Gold medal from the Concours d'Automobiles at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games. Rectangular in shape, it depicts a winged Victory on one side, and an athlete in antique style on the reverse. It is signed F. Vernon in the lower right-hand corner. French work, titled 18K 750‰. Wear to one corner. Dim. 59 x 41 x 2 mm Weight 88.80 g This medal was intended for the automobile events of the second Olympiad, concomitant with the 1900 Universal Exhibition. It should be noted that these mechanical Olympiads were never repeated, so they were unique, like this medal. A model is preserved and on display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Frédéric-Charles-Victor de Vernon, known as Frédéric de Vernon or Frédéric Vernon, was a French sculptor, engraver and medalist. In 1887, he won the Grand Prix de Rome and exhibited regularly at the Salons de la Société des Artistes Français. A resident of the Villa Médicis Academy in Rome, he won the Gold Medal at the 1900 Universal Exhibition and was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.