1893, U.S.A. INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION, CHICAGO, FRENCH SECTION. By Oscar Roty. Plaquette silvered-bronze 54mm x 50mm. Obv: Marianne greeting a winged genius. Rev: Inscription above branches and symbols of the Arts, industry and commerce. $150. Sorry, SOLD (February, 2020). ——— Louis Oscar Roty was born at Paris on June 11, 1846. He initially studied painting at the ?cole Nationale Sup?rieure des Beaux-Arts under Lecoq and Boisbaudran. It is reported that he lost the money for a paint box and subsequently enrolled in a life-drawing class and thence into sculpting. This trajectory would eventually lead to his career as the most celebrated medallist of his time. Along the way, he studied in the atelier of the statuary Augustin Dumont and under Ponscarme, Chapu and Chaplain. He won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome for medal engraving in 1875. Roty spent three years in Rome, where he modeled a number of waxes. In 1888 he was elected to the Acad?mie des Beaux-Arts. He took the grand prize at the International Exposition in 1889. Roty was a commander of the L?gion d?Honneur. He was responsible for reintroducing the plaquette, an art form that had been neglected since the Renaissance. His ?Semeuse? (sower) was widely used on French coins and stamps. He died in Paris on March 23, 1911.