Item number: X10

Year: AD 1870-1883

Material: Brass

Size: 29.4 x 29.4 x 7.6 mm

Weight: 5.4 g

Provenance: CGB Numismatics Paris 2024

This is a satirical button made of brass, likely issued during the French Third Republic, mocking the failed restoration attempt of Henry V (Count of Chambord).

The above speculation is based on the button’s issuance date, with the fleur-de-lis decoration on the obverse side possibly corresponding to Henry V’s (Count of Chambord) brief and ultimately unsuccessful restoration attempt following the Franco-Prussian War. The imagery may reflect this historical period, symbolising the failed Bourbon restoration and Henry’s failed efforts to reclaim the French throne.

The scene depicted on the obverse side of the button takes place in a bedroom adorned with wallpaper featuring fleur-de-lis, symbolising the Bourbon dynasty. Henry, dressed in a nightgown and cap, leans on the bed, with a chamber pot placed underneath, as he lifts his robes to receive an enema from a doctor.

During the 19th century, with the rise of the printing press, magazines and newspapers often employed exaggerated imagery to critique current events and capture public attention. This button, laden with crude and dark humour, serves as a prime example of such satirical commentary.

Henry V (Count of Chambord) was born in AD 1820 and was the last legitimate male heir of the French Bourbon dynasty. At the time, France oscillated between republicanism and monarchy, with even the monarchy divided by competing claims from the Bourbon, Orléans, and Bonapartist factions. After Louis-Philippe I of the Orléans branch was chosen to establish the July Monarchy on August 16, AD 1830, Henry V was forced into exile in Austria, where he continued to assert his claim to the French throne.

On September 2, AD 1870, following the disastrous defeat of the Second French Empire under Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War, monarchists became the majority in the French parliament. More significantly, the Orléans faction agreed to support Henry V’s return as King of France. However, Henry’s staunch opposition to republican ideals and his insistence on abolishing the tricolour flag in favour of restoring the Bourbon fleur-de-lis emblem caused the restoration effort to collapse. This impasse ultimately solidified the Third French Republic, which was initially intended to be a temporary regime. Pope Pius IX, who strongly supported Henry’s restoration, lamented the outcome, famously remarking, “And all that, all that for a napkin!”

Reflecting on the scene depicted on this button, it may serve as a political metaphor, using the medical procedure of an enema to mock Henry V. The satire suggests that Henry should awaken from his dream of Bourbon legitimacy, symbolically purge himself of his stubborn adherence to the past, and accept the reality of republicanism as a path toward political “health.”

In AD 1883, Henry passed away at the age of 63 in his Austrian residence, marking the extinction of the legitimate male line of the French Bourbon dynasty. On his deathbed, he finally recognised the Orléans faction as the rightful leaders of the French royal family.

物件編號: X10

年代: 公元 1870-1883 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 29.4 x 29.4 x 7.6 mm

重量: 5.4 g

來源: 巴黎硬幣收藏公司 2024

這是一枚可能在法蘭西第三共和國時期，嘲諷亨利五世 (香波伯爵) 失敗的復辟所發行的諷刺鈕扣，材質為黃銅。

之所以會有上述推測是根基於鈕扣的發行年代，和正面描繪的百合花飾或許能應對亨利五世在普法戰爭後，短暫且無疾而終的復辟嘗試這段歷史。

鈕扣正面的場景發生在以象徵波旁王朝的百合花飾為壁紙的臥室，穿著睡袍和睡帽的亨利扶著床，床底下還放著一個夜壺，掀起自己的屁股接受醫生的灌腸療法。印刷業普及的公元19世紀，雜誌和報紙流行以浮誇的表現手法針砭時事吸引大眾的注意，這枚帶有粗俗和黑色幽默的鈕扣正是其中一個案例。

亨利五世 (香波伯爵) 出生於公元1820年，為法國波旁王朝的最後一位嫡系男嗣血脈。然而彼時法國國內在共和和帝制之間擺盪，甚至連帝制都有波旁、紐奧良和波拿巴等正統之爭的混亂。公元1830年8月16日，法國推舉紐奧良分支的路易-菲利普一世建立七月王朝後，亨利五世被迫流亡奧地利但仍持續聲張自己的王位合法權。公元1870年9月2日，拿破崙三世創立的第二帝國在普法戰爭大敗後，法國國內的保皇黨成為議會多數，更重要的是紐奧良派也願意支持亨利五世回歸擔任法國國王。然而厭惡共和思想的亨利堅持要取消三色旗及恢復波旁王朝的百合花飾導致復辟陷入僵局，致使原先作為臨時性的法蘭西第三共和國成為正式國體，極力支持亨利復辟的教宗庇護九世為此感嘆：「只是為了那麼一塊破布！」

回顧這顆鈕扣表現的場景，或許就是藉著灌腸的醫療手法作為一種政治隱喻，諷刺亨利五世應該從堅持波旁正統的美夢醒來，要經歷灌腸一般排出體內髒汙，方能面對共和的現實和改善健康的諷刺建議。公元1883年，亨利以63歲之齡逝世於奧地利的住所，宣告法蘭西波旁王朝男嗣的消亡，而在臨終前他也接受以紐奧良派作為法蘭西王室的領導。