102723 | UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Int'l Exposition bronze Award Plaque.

102723  |  UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Louisiana Purchase International Exposition bronze award Plaque. Issued 1904. Engraved and presented to Paul Kaufmann (75x112 mm, 366.60 g, 12h). By P. Breuer.

 

ARTA ARTIS VINCULA (narrow are the shackles of your craft), personification of America seated right, clasping hands with and presenting olive branch to personification of Germany seated left; "PAUL KAUFMANN" engraved within rectangular cartouche above // ZUR ERINNERUNG / AN DEUTSCHLANDS / BETEILIGUNG AN / DER WELTAUSSTEL / LUNG IN ST. LOUIS / MCMIV (in commemoration of the German participation in the World's Fair in St. Louis) in six lines between pillars; in vignette above, World's Fair scene showing the German Pavilion and Cascade Gardens. Edge: A few scattered marks, otherwise plain.

 

Heidemann 1017. Mint State Details. Some minor marks from a prior cleaning/tooling located in some of the fields; olive-brown surfaces. Very rare. Compare to a similar piece awarded to a different individual (S. M. Felton) in Heritage 1100 (17 September 2008), lot 28283 (which realized a total of $1840 [after buyer's fee]).

 

Billed as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, as it commemorated the 100th anniversary of the massive land transaction between the United States and France, the fair covered an enormous area, taking visitors nearly a week to explore its offerings. 60 countries participated, one of which was the German Empire, which issued a series of plaques to be awarded to her citizens presenting or exhibiting at the fair. Among these Germans was this plaque's likely recipient, Paul Kaufmann (1856-1945), who was a lawyer and former president of the Reich Insurance Office, and who authored the biographical Mein rheinisches Bilderbuch in 1936.

 

Upload: 15 February 2024.