Leclerc Medal with Case

Bashford Dean (1867–1928), the founding curator of the Arms and Armor Department, was also a highly regarded scientist. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Count de Buffon (1707–1788) was a renowned naturalist and prolific and influential author. The Leclerc Medal was awarded to Dean by the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris in 1908.

The medal is in the form of a circular medallion. On the obverse there is a left-facing profile portrait bust in low relief of Georges-Louis Leclerc, flanked along the curvature near the left edge with raised letters G.EO L.S LECLERC, and along the curvature near the right edge with COMTE DE BUFFON. The name of the artist appears as E• DUBOIS F[ecit]• in smaller letters near the bottom edge beneath the bust. On the reverse in raised letters along the curvature near the side and top edges are the words MUSEUM D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE. In the center the words BASHEFORD[sic]-DEAN/ CORRESPONDANT/ 20 FÉVRIER 1908 are encircled by a wreath raised in low relief. The fitted circular case with hinged lid is covered with red leather on the exterior and lined with green velvet on the interior.