Reduction et Frappe de Medailles
ca. 1900–1910
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
2 3/16 × 2 3/8 in. (5.6 × 6 cm)
Classification
Medals and Plaquettes
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, 1991
Accession Number
1991.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the early 20th century, sculptor and medallist Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier the intricate craft of medal-making in his bronze plaquette *Réduction et Frappe de Médailles* (ca. 1900–1910). Measuring just over two inches across, this intimate work exemplifies the revival of the medal as a fine art form in fin-de-siècle France.pentier, a master of the medium, belonged to the Art Nouveau movement, blending elegant lines with realistic detail to celebrate artisanal labor. The plaquette depicts men at work—likely engravers reducing designs to scale and striking them into metal—highlighting ...
About the Artist
Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier · 1856–1909
Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier (1856–1909) was a French sculptor, medallist, and decorative artist who became an important figure in the Art Nouveau movement. Born in Paris, he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and early in his career established a reputation as a skilled sculptor and medallist, winning the Prix de Rome in engraving in 1881. Charpentier became a leading practitioner of the a...