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France: Boer and Farmhouse Plaque / Paris International Exhibition

France: Boer and Farmhouse Plaque / Paris International ExhibitionFrance: Boer and Farmhouse Plaque / Paris International Exhibition
Form: Cast. Two side edges, three bottom edges and rounded top
By: Eliza Beetz-Charpentier
Date: 1900
Ref:  ME: France 8; Laidlaw: 1006;
Variations:
SizeMetalMassValue
65.6 mm x 79.0 mmSilver86.6 gmRare

Edge: Plain.

Obverse: Boer in hat and bandolier supporting rifle by his side in left hand, front and looking upwards to left. Farmhouse to left, hills behind. Loosely draped woman in flight above, left, right arm extended holding flag pole, menacing eagle above her with wings curved around the domed top. Signed in script: "E Beetz" along lower right edge. Raised rim on straight edges.

Reverse: In script lettering: "RÉPUBLIQUE SUD-AFRICAINE (in an arc) / Exposition UNIVERSELLE (in an arc) / Paris / 1900 / SOUVENIR” Oak branch below.

Notes: According to Matthy Esterhuysen (reference ME), this medal was commissioned by a Dutch committee sympathetic with the Boer cause who collected a number of South African items for display at the Paris International Exhibition. The Transvaal Republic had a pavilion at the exhibition where presumably this plaque was on display and it is believed that President Kruger, who visited the exhibition during his stay in Paris, was presented with an example.

Another example of the plaque is housed in the National Cultural History Museum in Pretoria. It was donated by the secretary of the committee who commissioned the medal, Jonkheer (Dutch title) J. de Graaff. The only other examples were made for the members of the committee.

Eliza Beetz-Charpentier (1875-1949) was a French sculptor born in Schaerbeek, Belgium. She studied under Alexandre Charpentier whom she later married.