Commemorative bronze palm leaf presented by the French in remembrance of Australians killed in the First World War

Cast bronze palm leaf. The back of the leaf has been partially hollowed out to reduce the weight of the finished casting.

On 29 December 1922, Admiral Gilly, head of a French trade mission to Australia, presented to the Australian Prime Minister, Mr W M Hughes, on behalf of the French President, a bronze palm leaf tied with a tricolour sash. It was, Gilly said, at the public luncheon where he presented the palm, 'a tribute to the memory of Australia's fallen soldiers...a symbol of undestroyable remembrance to peretuate the memory of the heroic children of a noble country who fought in the great war and met death on the battlefields'. The palm leaf and sash were transferred to the Australian War Museum in Melbourne on 3 January 1923 and placed on display the following day. Newspaper advertisements encouraged the public to come and see the French tribute.

• French tricolour presentation sash