Advanced Search
Advanced Search

Requires Photography

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette: Birth of the Dauphin

Benjamin Duvivier (French, 1730–1819)
French
1781
Mint: Paris, France

Medium/Technique Metal; bronze
Dimensions Diameter and weight: 46 mm (1 13/16 in.)
Credit Line Bequest of J. B. How
Accession Number17.131
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsNumismaticsMedals

DescriptionCircular medal of Louis XVI (1754-1793), king of France, and Marie Antoinette, commemorating the birth of the dauphin (1781).

Obverse: Two profile busts of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette looking to proper right; inscribed at edge "LOUIS XVI·ROI DE FRANCE·ET NAV·ET MAR·ANT·J·J·D'AUSTRICHE REINE" and under bust "B·DUVIVIER".

Reverse: Emblem at center; inscribed at outer band "MARIAGE DE DOUZE FILLES DOTEES PAR LES ETATS DE BOURGOGNE" and at inner band "A LA NAISSANCE DE M LE DAUPHIN 1781".
InscriptionsObverse: Inscribed at edge "LOUIS XVI·ROI DE FRANCE·ET NAV·ET MAR·ANT·J·J·D'AUSTRICHE REINE" and under bust "B·DUVIVIER".

Reverse: Inscribed at outer band "MARIAGE DE DOUZE FILLES DOTEES PAR LES ETATS DE BOURGOGNE" and at inner band "A LA NAISSANCE DE M LE DAUPHIN 1781".
ProvenanceBy 1917, J. B. How; 1917, bequest of J. B. How to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 18, 1917)