Claude-Leon Mascaux (1882-1965) (artist)
Polo Olympic Medallion
Fumefre[?] et cie (foundry): 1924
Bronze
6 inches, diameter
8.5 x 9.5 inches in mahogany frame
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Polo Olympic Medallion
French: 1924
French: 1924
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Commemorative Olympic medallion from the Paris games of 1924, which hosted 44 nations. A bas relief polo player is featured on horseback in the center, and the surface is embossed with "VIIIe Olympiade - Paris 1924." The second-to-last Olympic polo competition took place in 1924; after 1936 it was discontinued as an Olympic sport.
Claude-Leon Mascaux of France won a bronze medal in sculpture in the artistic competition held at the 8th Olympiad. It is possible that this polo medallion is a bronze cast of his winning entry. An alternative, and more likely possibility, is that this work was one of a set of seven medallions of sports for which he won the Grand Prize at the Exposition of Arts in Paris in 1925.
The original Olympic games in ancient Greece included competitions in the arts as well as athletics. In the Stockholm Olympics of 1912, the tradition was revived with the first arts Olympiad in modern times. Arts competitions continued in six subsequent Olympic games, with the last one taking place in 1948. IOC officials then discontinued them due in part to a philosophical stance that awarding medals to professional artists was counter to the ideals of amateur competition. However, the debate about the role of cultural events in the Olympics continues, and there are currently people advocating reinstating the competitions. During the competition years, artists submitted sports-themed works in such categories as architecture, painting, sculpture, literature and musical composition. We cannot find a record of the title of Mascaux's winning entry.
Claude-Leon Mascaux was a French medalmaker and engraver in Paris . His works are represented in the Cabinet of Medals and Antiques in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library of France) in Paris.
Foundry mark on rim: "Fumefre[?] et cie"
References:
Bénézit, E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs. France : Librairie Gründ, 1966. Vol. 5, p. 822.