Item number: M381-2

Year: AD 1883-1940

Material: Gold, Silver-Gilt and Enamel

Provenance: Andreas Thies EK 2024

This is a miniature version of the Ordre du Mérite Agricole (Order of Agricultural Merit), established on July 7, AD 1883, at the initiative of Jules Méline, then France’s Minister of Agriculture. Méline founded the order in response to the fact that agriculture employed over 18 million people—the largest occupational sector in France at the time—yet the country lacked any dedicated decoration to honour such service. Initially created with a single class, the order today comprises three classes, with recipients selected annually in June and July.

The decoration features a six-pointed star enamelled in white, flanked on either side by encircling motifs of wheat and corn. The obverse medallion bears a portrait of Marianne, symbolising republican ideals, surrounded by a blue enamel band inscribed “Republique Francaise” (French Republic). The reverse medallion is inscribed in French with the name of the order and its founding date: “MÉRITE AGRICOLE 1883” (Order of Agricultural Merit, established in AD 1883).

The official version of the decoration is suspended from a green ribbon. When the order was first introduced, the combination of the white enamel insignia and the green ribbon led the press to playfully nickname it “the leek” (“loe poireau” in French), in reference to its resemblance to the vegetable.

物件編號: M381-2

年代: 公元 1883-1940 年

材質: 黃金, 銀鍍金和琺瑯

來源: 安德烈亞斯·蒂斯拍賣行 2024

這是一枚公元1883年7月7日，時任法國農業部部長的朱爾·梅利納提倡創設的迷你版「農業功勳勳章」。梅利納創立勳章的宗旨是彼時農業為法國就業人口最多，超過1800萬人投入的職業，然而國家一直沒有對應的勳章作為獎勵。勳章創立之初僅有單一等級，時至今日已經有三個等級，並且在每年的6、7月份選出該年度的得獎者。

勳章外觀為白色琺瑯彩繪的六芒星，周圍的左右兩側分別以麥穗和玉米環繞。勳章正面的圓盤鐫刻象徵共和精神的瑪麗安妮肖像，藍色圓環標示「Republique Francaise」(法蘭西共和國)。背面的圓盤以法文打印勳章名稱和創立年份「MÉRITE AGRICOLE 1883」(農業功勳勳章創立於公元1883年)。

官方版的勳章還會銜接綠色綬帶，因此這枚勳章剛推出的時候，白色的勳章本體搭配綠色綬帶還被媒體戲稱為「韭蔥」。