To Commemorate the Jubilee of the Maison Christofle, 1842–92

Art Historical Context

This commemorative medal, created by French artist Louis-Oscar Roty in 1893, marks the fiftieth anniversary of Maison Christofle, a prominent Parisian firm specializing in silverware and metalwork. The piece captures a moment of industrial pride during France’s Third Republic, when luxury manufacturers celebrated their achievements through finely crafted objects. Its modest scale—roughly the size of a small plaque—made it ideal for distribution to employees, clients, or collectors as a lasting token of the company’s legacy from 1842 to 1892. Roty’s design, cast in bronze and given a silvered finish, highlights the refined techniques of late-nineteenth-century medallic art. The silvering lends a luminous, jewel-like quality that evokes the gleaming silver objects Christofle produced. Imagery of men, women, and trees suggests an allegorical celebration of growth, craftsmanship, and perhaps the natural sources of inspiration behind the firm’s designs. Today the medal resides in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection of European sculpture and decorative arts, reminding visitors how small objects can embody broader stories of innovation, national industry, and artistic patronage in the Gilded Age.

About the Artist

Louis-Oscar Roty · 1846–1911

Louis-Oscar Roty, commonly known as Oscar Roty (1846–1911), was born on June 11 in Paris's Belleville neighborhood, the son of a modest schoolmaster. He began his artistic training under Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran at the Petite École (later the École des Arts Décoratifs), honing his drawing skills, before entering the École des Beaux-Arts in 1864. There, he studied sculpture and medal engraving u...