PREVIEW: THE SILICH COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL & ART MEDALS: PART III: 14 OCTOBER

This is the third is a series of eight auctions being staged for this exceptional collection over a period of five years ending in 2028.

The first two auctions featured work by over 900 different artists, medallists and sculptors – testament to the breadth of the collection, which numbers upwards of 3,500 pieces. Noonans decided to catalogue the collection alphabetically by artist to demonstrate the vast range of medallic sculpture available to present-day collectors and students.

 

“Here you will find medals from all corners of the globe, from Canada to New Zealand, Chile to Japan, brought together by one man’s passion for the subject,” said Noonans Associate Director Peter Preston-Morley.

New Zealand-born David Nicholas Silich (10 July 1944–12 February 2018) emigrated to London in his twenties, forging a highly successful career in the European financial sector. Among other benefits, this allowed him to follow is passion for medals and he had already formed a collection of Renaissance medals by the time he became an early member of the British Art Medal Society.

He went on to amass a huge range of pieces, all carefully organised on display trays at his offices in St Moritz.

Silich was also notable for his generous donations to the British Museum and Harvard University Art Museum in New York, among other institutions.

Medals from France are particularly strong in this auction, as three leading highlights demonstrate.

The first is a uniface Art Deco bronze plaque of the Four Seasons set in a bronze mount on a bronze base, the piece dating to 1927. Later inscribed for Me. P. Jousselin, Président du Conseil-Superieur du Notariat, 1942-1945, the plaque is the work of sculptor and medallist Henri

Dropsy (1885-1969) for Maison Canale and is in extremely fine condition and very rare. The estimate is £800-1,000.

A presentation pair of silver and copper medals by Armand-Auguste Caqué (1793-1881) celebrate the baptism of the Prince Imperial in 1856. They show the Emperor Napoleon III standing and holding his infant son up, as though presenting him to the world. Next to them stands the Empress Eugenie. The reverse lists the names of towns in France and Algeria invited to the ceremony in rays around central legend of A L’Empereur. In Mint state and very rare, the medals come in an official octagonal green gilt-blocked case of issue, the lid bearing the Imperial arms. The guide is £600-800.

The third highlight is a presentation pair of silver plaques by Louis-Oscar Roty (1846-1911) to mark the funeral of the assassinated French President François Sadi Carnot (1837-94).
After delivering a public speech at the Palais du Commerce, Lyon, on 24 June 1894, he was stabbed by an Italian anarchist, Sante Geronimo Caserio, a 20-year-old baker from Sète. Carnot died the following day and was honoured by an elaborate funeral at the Panthéon in Paris on 1 July 1894; his assassin was convicted and guillotined on 16 August.

The obverse of the plaque shows Carnot’s body lying in state, with a woman representing France standing next to him in mourning, and the basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière above, while the legend below reads Dans le Deuil de la Patrie (In mourning for the Fatherland). The reverse shows the funeral cortège bearing the coffin to the Panthéon. In extremely fine, in toned condition, and very rare, it comes in a bespoke velvet-lined display stand allowing simultaneous viewing of both sides. It is expected to fetch £400-600.