Medal

Pierre Simon Benj. Duvivier

1770–1800 · Silver · The American Wing

Duvivier was a prolific medalist who had a lifelong royal court appointment to the French crown (he was a favorite of Louis XVI) and the Institut de France. He was commissioned by Colonel David Humphreys, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson to create this medal. It was the first of the Comitia Americana series: a collection of medals that accompanied Congress’s resolutions of thanks for military accomplishments in the American Revolution. Created for George Washington to recognize his victory in compelling British troops out of Boston on March 17, 1776, the obverse of the medal shows a profile bust of Washington (allegedly based on Jean Antoine Houdon’s model), while the reverse depicts the general on a horse, pointing towards the British troops sailing out of the harbor. Like the other medals in the series, it was designed and struck at the Paris Mint; however, it took fourteen years to be cast and sent to Washington, on account of several failed committees and a rejected design.

Artist

Pierre Simon Benj. Duvivier

Date

1770–1800

Medium

Silver

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883