ANTIGUA MEDALLA DE BRONCE - Large circular gilt bronze medal; the face with an Imperial Legion d’Hon

ANTIGUA MEDALLA DE BRONCE - Large circular gilt bronze medal; the face with an Imperial Legion d’Honneur insignia circumscribed ‘DÉCRET SPÉCIAL DU 11 FÉVRIER 1860 DÉCERNÉE A DEBAIN’ (Special decree of 11 February 1860 awarded to Debain) within a circular wreath of oak and laurel, circumscribed ‘MÉDAILLES D’HONNEUR ET DE 1RE CLASSE’ (Medals of Honour and of the 1st Class), signed ‘MASSONNET ÉDITEUR’; the reverse plain and hatched by hand (probably to assist its being glued - see below);MIDE 33 MM. Y PESA 17 GRAMOS. Alexandre François Debain (1809-1877) was the inventor of the harmonium and from 1840 until his death in 1877 the chief builder in France of such keyboard instruments. A Harmonino by Debain in the collection of the Musée de la Musique in Paris has an example of this exact medal attached to its underneath and we therefore conclude that it is a very grand maker’s plaque.