Rectangular plaque in copper bronze, with the portrait in medallion of King Louis XVI represented in bust in left profile, surmounting a cartouche inscribed in Latin "Ludovico XVI Fr. et Nava. Regi Optimo Comitia Burgundiae".

Circa 1787, commissioned by the Estates of Burgundy to celebrate the completion of the Canal in this province.

H. 21 x W. 17.5 cm.

Two other period examples in gilded bronze are currently known, totally identical and of the same dimensions: one offered by the States of Burgundy to the King (private collection), and another incorporated into the base of a monumental clock (collection of the Cercle Interallied).

Let us recall that Fontaine made a first version of this medallion in 1774 (examples of the period present in several French museums), of which only the head was modified in the model of 1787. On this last date, the engraver of King Duvivier created a commemorative medal of the same event, with a different profile but bearing the same legend as the Fontaine plaque.

- Exhibition catalogue, "Jean-Baptiste Nini, 1717-1786: from Urbino to the banks of the Loire, European landscapes and faces", Château de Blois, 27 October 2001-27 January 2002, Milan, 2001.

- Jean-Baptiste Nini, his life, his work. 1717-1786", André Storelli Storelli, Tours, 1896.

- Daniel Alcouffe in exhibition catalogue, "Louis XV. A moment of perfection in French art", Hôtel de la Monnaie, Paris, 1974, p. 599.