Framed medal of John Paul Jones and the Serapis
By Augustin Dupre, after Jean-Antoine Houdon
1779 (this example, possibly 1790s); Paris, France
Struck bronze; burlwood veneered walnut frame

Framed medal of Peter Paul Rubens and the Monument in his Honor
By Laurent Joseph Hart
1840; Antwerp, Belgium
Struck bronze; burlwood veneered walnut frame

Approximate size: 5 (h) x 5 (l) x 1 (d) in.

A particularly handsome group of contemporaneously struck bronze medals housed in antique recessed burlwood-veneered walnut frames.

One medal depicts the engagement of the French Captain John Paul Jones against the British ship, Serapis, off the coast of Flamborough Head, England on September 23, 1779. The medal, originally struck in gold, formed part of the Comitia Americana medals commissioned by the U.S. Congress and awarded to heroes of the Revolutionary War between 1776 and 1781. This particular medal, was executed by the French medal and engraver, Augustin Dupre in France. Kept in Paris, subsequent strikes in other metals, like bronze, were produced from the 1790s onward. The medal features a portrait of John Paul Jones in profile, surrounded by "JOANNI PAVLO JONES/ CLASSIS PRAEFECTO/ COMITIA AMERICANA," and on the reverse ships engaged in battle, surrounded by "HOSTIVM NAVIBVS/ CAPTIS AVT FVGATIS," and in the exergue, "AD ORAM SCOTIAE XXIII. SEPT. / M.DCCLXXVIIII. / DUPRE. F."

The other medal depicts the Flemish artist and diplomat, Peter Paul Rubens, executed by the Belgian medalist, Laurent Joseph Hart in 1840 on occasion of the erection of the statue of Rubens in Antwerp, Belgium, in honor and celebration of the 200th anniversary following Ruben’s death. The medal features a portrait of Pierre-Paul Rubens in three-quarters perspective and in period garb while the verso depicts the statue of Rubens at Antwerp, on a pedestal inscribed "PETRO PAULO RUBENS CIVI OLIM SUO S.P.Q.A. MDCCCXXXX," and around the edges, "SOUVENIR DES FETES BISSECULAIRES CELEBREES EN L'HONNEUR DE RUBENS OFFERT PAR LES ARTISTES A L. JACOBS CONSEILLER COMMUNAL," and "ANVERS 1840."