1848 Revolutionary Government Medallion

 1848 Provisional Government Medallion. 1848. Two-sided medallion in cast metal. 1 3/8 inches.

 

Cast metal medallions were among the most popular ways to celebrate, commemorate, or express solidarity with a wide array of events, causes, and people in the 19th Century. As such, in the volatile situation of revolution they played a role in legitimizing what emerged as the provisional government among an array of competing groups and claims. It is evident that this medal, announcing the leftist Provisional Government, was struck in great haste, in the heat of the moment, as part of their tactics to cement their claim before the revolution was recuperated by reactionary forces, as had occurred in 1830 when liberal monarchists seized the moment to establish a constitutional monarchy with (temporarily) free press, while the Left was still attempting to present a united front. The mold seems to have been prepared within an hour – the lettering is crude (the "4" in 1848 is backwards), the spacing and layout awkward; clearly, time was of the essence. Among the great many other medallions struck around this time was one also held by the Revenant Archive, celebrating the Romanticist poet Alphonse Lamartine, who had announced the republic and became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government. The archive also holds the back half of a stamped-metal medallion of the liberal songwriter Béranger.

The front reads: "23 24 25 / Février 1848 / Rep[ublique]. Franc[ai]se / Gouvernement Provisiore" ("23 24 25 / February 1848 / Fr[en]ch Rep[ublic]  / Provisional Government".

The back lists the group of activists and politicians who had declared the republic: "Dupont. Lamartine. Lédru-Rollin. Arago. Grémieux. Ma[??]e. Garnier-Pagès. Marrast. L[ouis]. Blanc. Flocon. Albert. Pagnerre[?]".