description
Object description
obverse design : Gallia, standing facing right, helmeted, wearing ornate cuirass and robes, her left arm extended and
holding a laurel branch in her right hand. Beside her, to right, a naked man, standing with his body towards the observer and his head
turned to face right. Positioned at the right base of design a small trophy of arms and in the background a richly cultivated
landscape
reverse design : trophy of equipment relating to sport and military training, including dumbbell, fencing sword and mask, riding harness,
tennis racket and drum. These items are positioned above an uninscribed rectangular tablet at the base of which sits a dove. In the
background are three groups of piled rifles, a bicycle and, at the right, shooting targets. In the distance a shining sun is partially
obscured by the horizon
Label
Pre-1914 sporting medal by Marie Alexandre Lucien Coudray (1864-1932). This decorous tribute to excellence in sporting
activity is rendered in the sinuous and decorative style of 'art nouveau'. Gallia's appreciation of the sportsman's achievements endorses
the widely-held belief in the positive moral and physical benefits of organised sporting endeavour as a means of encouraging the virtues of
fitness, discipline and a self-respect. The references to sport and military training on the reverse suggest an inextricable link between
sport and war, and acknowledges the importance of France's manhood of military age being adequately trained and prepared for the 'greater
game'.
Inscription
prefixed by small oval mark : ARGENT