Washington Lafayette Cincinnati Medal - Washington medal
sells in NYC for $5.3M Tue Dec 11, 10:27 PM ET
NEW YORK - George Washington's commissioned
gold medal that was given to Marquis de Lafayette, the
French revolutionary who supported the American Revolution,
was sold Tuesday at auction for $5.3 million, Sotheby's
announced.
La Fondation de Chambrun, in Chateau
La Grange, Lafayette's home 30 miles east of Paris,
beat out two other bidders.
"The medal is a symbol of the bond
and friendship between America and France," said
Christophe Van de Weghe, a Manhattan art dealer who
represented the foundation.
The medal, shaped like an eagle and
believed have its original ribbon and red leather box,
will be displayed in Lafayette's bedroom, Van de Weghe
said. It also might be displayed at Mount Vernon, Washington's
former home and slave plantation in Virginia.
Washington, Lafayette and others in 1783 formed the
Society of the Cincinnati, a group devoted to maintaining
the Revolution's ideals, and eagle badges were given
to members. The medal auctioned Tuesday was made to
Washington's specifications.
After Washington's death, the medal
was presented to Lafayette by Washington's family; it
was consigned to the auction by Lafayette's great-great
granddaughter.
The pre-sale estimate was $4 million
to $10 million.
An emerald and gold medal, commissioned
by George Washington and presented to Revolutionary
War hero Marquis de Lafayette in 1824, is shown in Boston,
Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. The medal, known as the Washington
Lafayette Cincinnati Medal, and currently in the possession
of Lafayette's great-great-great grandson Arnaud Meunier
du Houssoy, will be put up for auction next week. (AP
Photo/Steven Senne)
