ITALY, Savoy. Victor Amadeus I, Duke, 1587-1630-1637. Medal (Bronze, 104 mm, 295.00 g, 12 h), with his wife Christine de France (1606-1663) by Guillaume Dupré (obverse) and Abraham Dupré (reverse), '1637', but possibly a later cast. VICTOR AMADEVS DVX SAB.PRINC.PED.REX CIPR Bare-headed bust of Victor Amadeus to right, wearing cuirass overlaid by an elaborate lace collar; below the truncation, G.DVPRE F 1636. Rev. CHRISTIA.A FRANCIA DV-ASAB.REG.CYPRI Bust of Christine to left, wearing very elaborate robes ornamented with jewels, a pearl necklace, a drop earring and and a ducal crown, and with her hair in abundant curls and bound up with a pearl-encrusted circlet; in the lower field to left, AB.DVPRE F 1637. Hirsch XXXV, 1914, 157. Lyon 89 (but signature on the reverse misread). Rare. A particularly solid and impressive cast with portraits in high relief. Fields all very lightly smoothed, otherwise, extremely fine.

From the collection of a Bon Vivant, ex Heritage 1100, 17 September 2008, 29050 (but with a curious description suggesting that the Duchess's name was misspelled).

Given the date Christine's portrait, 1637 - and not 1635 as it is often misread - one wonders whether this medal might have been produced after Victor Amadeus' death (7 October 1637 - he apparently had been poisoned at a dinner about two weeks earlier), when Christine became regent. She formally gave up the regency in 1648 but, apparently, remained in charge until her death in 1663. Among the interesting facts about Christine, aside from having a rather wild life, is that one of her distant descendants is Brooke Shields.