This model of agricultural trophy was commissioned by the French Minister of Agriculture in 1860 following the founding of Napoleon III's agricultural competitions, which were designed to foster growth in agriculture, then France's most important industry, a tradition that continued until the First World War.

Christofle produced the model for this trophy in collaboration with the sculptor Eugène Capy (1829-1894) for the figure of Ceres and Pierre Louis Rouillard (1820-1881) for the relief vignettes. The prototype for the trophy was displayed at the 1862 International Exhibition in London, where it was hugely admired. After this date, Christofle manufactured one each year for every participating towns (see H. Bouilhet, 150 Ans d'Orfèvrerie, Christofle, Silversmith since 1830, Paris, 1981, pp. 178-80). Another trophy, also dated 1868, made for the city of Châlons was sold at Aste Bolaffi, Turin, 23 November 2023, lot 332. The 1862 example was presented to the Musée d'Orsay in 2013 by the Friends of the Musée d'Orsay in memory Édouard, Comte de Ribes (1923-2013), President of the Society of Friends of the Musée d'Orsay from 1990 to 2013.