On 23 January, 1861, an imperial decree ordered the creation of a commemorative medal to be awarded to soldiers and sailors who had participated in the Chinese expedition of 1860.
This medal, presented to 8,000 men from the expeditionary corps, was awarded by means of a personalised certificate, and delivered via the army corps or via the naval prefect.
Description
The ribbon: 36mm in width. Yellow with, in the centre, the name of the town of Peking, in Chinese characters (ideograms), picked out in blue.
The insignia: circular silver medal, 30mm in diameter. Engraving by Désiré-Albert Barre.
On the obverse: the legend “NAPOLEON III EMPEROR” surrounds an effigy of the crowned emperor. The ensemble is framed by a crown of laurel leaves. On the reverse: the inscription “CHINESE EXPEDITION 1860” surrounds the names of the battles of TA-KOU (Taku), CHANG-KIA-WAN (Zhangjiawan), PA-LI-KIAO (Baliqiao) and PE-KING (Peking). The ensemble is framed by a crown of laurel leaves.
This image forms part of our close-up on: the Franco-British expedition to China, 1860.
Commemorative medal issued after the Chinese expedition
- Date :
- 23 January 1861
- Photo credit :
- © D.R.