Rare item.
An impressive medal designed and made for Tsar Alexander I, in gratitude for the creation of the Kingdom of Poland.
In August 1815, when the tsar was in Paris, a delegation consisting of Stanislaw Count Zamojski (as a representative of the Senate), Prince Valentine Radziwill, Jan Tarnowski and Wladyslaw Ostrowski (as representatives of the nobility), as well as Father Andrew Vollovich (as a representative of the clergy) and two representatives of the bourgeoisie went to Paris. The delegation's task was to express gratitude to Alexander I for the creation of the Kingdom of Poland. This was not obvious given that only a few years earlier he had opposed the creation of a Polish state in any form. The courtesies between the delegation and the tsar were far-reaching. The tsar received a medal minted in gold especially for the occasion, commemorating the creation of the Kingdom of Poland. The monarch returned the favor by presenting members of the delegation with high orders. As a curiosity, one of them was given to Wladyslaw Ostrovsky, who three years earlier had been awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor for the campaign on Moscow.
The medal, commissioned by the Warsaw Mint, was engraved by Gotfryd Majnert, a medalist of considerable talent and father of the famous forger Joseph. In addition to the print intended for the tsar, a small number of medals were probably made in silver. Sources for the history of medal making also record a small number of prints made in gold and silver in later years. Despite this, it is a medal of great rarity.
Medal in good condition. With preserved medal mirror and light patina. Scratches on the surface of the background minor. No defects or damage. Exposing scratch in front of the Tsar's face smaller than photos might indicate (effect of incident perpendicular light).
Attractive.
In our history to date, we have had this medal in silver only 1 time (A13/5122).
Silver, diameter 50.5 mm, weight 61.8 g.
