France, III Republic. A Red Cross Committee of French Ladies of Buenos Aires "For Our Wounded" Commemorative Medal 1914-1917

In bronze gilt in the Art Nouveau style, obverse illustrating a nurse re-bandaging the head of a wounded soldier, the inscription "POUR NOS BLESSES" (For Our Wounded) to the left and engraver marked "O. YENCESSE" (Medallist: Ovide Yencesse (1869-1947) above the nurse's head, reverse illustrating the Red Cross insignia above the inscription "LA COMITÉ DES DAMES FRANÇAISES DE BUENOS-AIRES 1914-1917" (The Committee of French Ladies of Buenos Aires 1914-1917), measuring 45.5 mm (w) x 49.8 mm (h), bruised, edge nicks, spotting, tiny hole along the top edge from a previous suspension, better than very fine.

Footnote:

1. Argentina was a neutral country during the First World War. However, one-third of its population was made up of foreign citizens, including those of countries currently at war. The area was prime for German propaganda and for German agents. The efforts on the ground by the British community in countering the propaganda were effective. But the British community did more than just wage a propaganda war, as there were some 4,852 volunteers from Argentina. This roll of honour gives the names of 569 individuals most of whom (but not all) are named by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

2. This rare bronze medal was engraved by Ovide Yencesse (1869-1947). He first studied at the Academy of Arts in Dijon. Later, he went on to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he was a pupil to Ponscarme, Levillain and Thomas. Yencesse exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francais, he received an honourable mention in 1897 and a third-class medal in 1898. At the Exposition Universelle 1900, Yencesse was awarded a gold medal, this was followed immediately by the receipt of the Legion of Honour. He received a gold medal at the Salon des Artistes Francais in 1910 and 1920. Yencesse was selected for the position of Director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Dijon and became a member of the jury at the International Exposition 1937. The blurred style of his early medals and plaques imitates the painter Eugene Carrière, therefore Yencesse was often called the "Carrière of medals". A large collection of his works are to be found in the Luxembourg Museum. The medal presented here was engraved at the end of the First World War, by the time Ovide Yencesse found his own way of engraving.