1954, France. CENTENARY OF COMPAGNIE CENTRALE D’ASSURANCE MARITIMES. By Georges Contaux (1891-1984). Bronze 100mm. $120.

Georges Contaux was born on September 22, 1891 in Paris. He entered the ?cole Boulle, where he studied sculpture and engraving. He joined the 26?me R?giment d?artillerie de campagne at Chartres in 1911. Contaux was wounded during World War I and had two fingers amputated. In 1921 he received an honorable mention at the Salon des Artistes Fran?ais. From 1922 to 1923 he worked for the engraver Pierre Lasserre (1870-1943). He then established himself at Vigneux-sur-Seine, where he remained, for the rest of his life, working as a sculptor and medallist. We was a prolific medallist producing about twenty-five hundred medals over the span of fifty years from 1930 to 1980. About fifteen hundred of his medals were religious, another eight hundred related to sports and about 150 were portrait medals. Contaux died at Vigneux-sur-Seine on September 15, 1984.