1831 James Augustus Washington Portrait Plaque. Bronze. 135 mm. By David dAngers. Reinis-482. Nearly as made.，Youthful bust to the right, his name inscribed vertically behind the head, and signed DAVID / 1831 below the bust. The reverse bears the foundry marks. Davids medallions often appear holed for mounting on a wall, but this one has a suspension loop neatly soldered to the reverse.<p>James Augustus Washington (1803-1847) was an American physician who, as a young medical student, spent time in Paris and was feted and treated royally by Paris society as he was believed to be the nephew of George Washington. He was not, but felt no reason to clarify the impression of his French hosts. While in France the noted sculptor Pierre-John David, impressed by Washingtons fine features and apparent fame, had James sit for him and produced this medal -- the first of an American in a series of notables he produced from 1827 to 1854. The later Americans were author James Fennimore Cooper, abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uriah P. Levy, the Jewish naval officer who saved the crumbling Monticello.<p>All of Davids medals are highly prized, and were made as aftercasts even after his death in 1856 -- continuing into the 20th century. This is an original piece, identified by Joseph G. Reinia, who authored the 1999 reference <em>The Portrait Medals of David DAngers</em>. This piece was also the first medal cited in Barbara Baxters catalog of the American Numismatic Societys exhibition, <em>The Beaux-Arts Medallion in America</em> (1987).，From Sothebys sale of the Daniel M. Doll Collection, 2002. Lot tag included. Earlier probably from the David and Constance Yates Collection.，
