3-078-082 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Testimonial presented to Alderman Sir Polydore de Keyser by the British Section of the Paris Exhibition, 1890. 'A testimonial was presented by the Executive Council of the British Section of the late Paris Exhibition to Alderman Sir Polydore De Keyser, at the Mansion House, on May 6, the anniversary of the date of the opening of the Exhibition. The gift was a solid silver centrepiece, with two finely modelled figures - one representing London, murally crowned, with sword of justice and shield bearing the arms of the City; the other France, supporting a shield bearing the arms of Paris, with a model of the Eiffel Tower, emblems of arts, pottery, and manufactures. The raised centre supports a pierced silver dish for flowers. On one side is a view in bas-relief of the central dome in the Paris Exhibition, on the reverse is the Mansion House of London. The subsidiary decorations are appropriate. The centrepiece, which is 38 in. long and weighs nearly 400 ounces, is an exquisite piece of workmanship, and reflects high credit on the manufacturers, who are the Goldsmiths' Alliance (Limited), of Cornhill'. De Keyser (1832-1898) was the first Roman Catholic since the Reformation to be elected Lord Mayor of London. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.