15929845220001312637261000Standard Recordobject-141538170534539931817053297490001705345377433fitz-onlineadlib-object-141538https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/1415386dde0174-90bb-3d2a-a699-a8ff3df03b3c7referenceterm-42993adlib-term-4299393884c6f-c60c-39f7-a75d-f84d65288fe0medalreferenceterm-122711adlib-term-1227111db96904-a474-3b61-a8e5-6c2d9dd557abLester Watson CollectionCoins and MedalsThe aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars left the reputation of the erstwhile Emperor in dudgeon for some years, but the return to power of his family in the person of Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, who was President of the Second Republic from 1849 and from 1852 Emperor Napoleon III, resulted in a rapid rehabilitation of his career. This also led to a feeling that the endeavours of Napoleon I's soldiers had not been publically recognised, and in 1857 therefore a commemorative medal was issued in Napoleon I's name for any man still living who could show that he had served in the Grande Armée between 1792 and 1815. Some 405,000 medals were issued, not just to Frenchmen but also to Belgians, Dutchmen, Danes and Irishmen to name but a few, but the medal's order's documentation was lost in a fire of the nineteenth century.
As the medals were issued unnamed, this means that unless a personal history can be reconstructed using other documents, examples of the medal cannot be attributed to a particular recipient. An ongoing amateur research project is currently collecting material of this kind, but the example in the Watson Collection unfortunately has no such back-history. All that can be said is that Lester Watson purchased it from the London dealers Baldwin at some point before 1928.CM.1444-20091accession numberCM.1444-2009141538priref141538Watson Catalogue364orderingM-0327previous object numberLW.0327urihttps://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141538https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141538Bust of Napoleon I wreathed facing right, surrounded by laurel wreath and surmounted by crown which forms suspensionobverseNAPOLEON I EMPEREURdesignInscription within laurel wreath around central inscription "A / SES / COMPAGNONS / DE GLOIRE / SA DERNIERE / PENSEE / St HELENE / 5 MAI / 1824"reversedesignreferenceagent-149638adlib-agent-1496387376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8The Fitzwilliam MuseumGiven by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009referenceagent-206432adlib-agent-206432e0b1da8e-f9e4-30be-9257-f82c89d45afbWatson, Lester200920092009givenon loan to the Fitzwilliam Museum 2005-2009185718571857mintreferenceagent-158722adlib-agent-1587221cffff36-4957-3dbb-9b48-c4d5b506440aParisstruck in the name ofrulerreferenceagent-176193adlib-agent-176193728469ed-8833-3553-8b5e-60ddde9be919Napoléon I (1804-14)die-engraverreferenceagent-7579adlib-agent-757994e7eff0-7819-3f9c-805f-891598617347Barre, Albert-Désiréstruck in the rule ofrulerreferenceagent-153729adlib-agent-15372996be19f4-fb2b-307e-b13f-1bfb98cb782bNapoleon III (1852-70)mintreferenceagent-190888adlib-agent-190888eb8cafff-8703-3b36-9b93-c33742cb7e89Colmar, Parisreferenceterm-130759adlib-term-130759f9058fb6-5239-3190-97d0-62a0faac8f72Colmarreferenceterm-40365adlib-term-40365d79c75c2-da7b-3187-918e-f7a374e04005bronzeDiametermm31.4Weightg31.57referencemedia-116627adlib-media-11662700859682-4a3c-3417-8ad6-bcd467e531d8jpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_281_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels14816162381165841imagejpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_281_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels14816162381165841imagejpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_281_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels14816162381165841imagejpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_281_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels14816162381165841image0media
imagereferencemedia-116628adlib-media-116628a166546f-2737-3adc-904b-b4f95c97335cjpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_282_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels15316162697742381imagejpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_282_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels15316162697742381imagejpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_282_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels15316162697742381imagejpegcm/cm15/LW_0327_282_29.jpg1heightpixels365widthpixels15316162697742381image1media
imagereferenceterm-123063adlib-term-1230634f113ce0-bde5-385f-a936-961dac6b366dMédaille de Sainte-Hélènedenominationreferenceterm-98222adlib-term-98222b5ccc43a-7491-344e-b6ca-5df39a11c50emedalsseriesreferenceterm-108659adlib-term-108659cc732dec-4543-389e-a737-cf22bb7d2ee2Militarysubseriesreferenceterm-120306adlib-term-1203064c444129-3d8c-340f-bfbd-b4d82e5cbd17Francesubsubserieshistory noteGift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Baldwin before 1928referenceagent-149638adlib-agent-1496387376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8The Fitzwilliam Museum80-82referencepublication-5894adlib-publication-58943c9fff39-4ab7-3e05-83ba-0f9441ec5525French Orders and Decorationsreferencepublication-5910adlib-publication-59100d1d8526-5493-32bd-93b4-acd4cdcec7f9British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959)referenceterm-123063adlib-term-1230634f113ce0-bde5-385f-a936-961dac6b366dMédaille de Sainte-HélèneMédaille de Sainte-Hélènereferenceterm-119622adlib-term-119622dd6626e9-5822-307d-aa31-13c8813e7555struckobject
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