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  Question about the Order of Ismail/Nishan al-Ismail

  By Rusty Greaves · Posted 2 hours ago

  I have finally been able to re-frame and examine the 2nd Class Grand Officer Order of Ismail that was awarded to my wife’s great grandfather, Pierre Crabités. I did not get good photos as there was a limited window when the framer had the medals out of the old frame prior to re-mounting them, and I had to take time off from work to go to the shop. The lighting was not good and I did not have my tripod. I was able to identify the date hallmarks on the neck badge and breast star and obtain measurements of each piece.      Low-moderate-resolution photo of the obverse of the Crabités neck badge. My measurements identify the height as 80 mm to the top of the star and crescent and 82 mm to the most superior portion of the attachment loop. The width of the star arms is 62 mm. The width of the crown suspension element is 20 mm. There are the three Egyptian gold hallmarks on the right obverse connection between the superior star arm and the crown. A single hallmark of the Cairo assay office identification of 18 k gold is present on the reverse of the body of the crown to the left of the suspension loop. The most distal flower elements on the gold and blue enamel star arms show the most common form of engraving: 3 lateral marks on each side of the flower and a single, longer mark extending into the longest medial petal. The two central flowers show 3 lateral marks and one longer mark in the longer medial petals of each flower. The neck ribbon is faded on the face that has been exposed to sunlight, but retains brighter colors on the reverse. Because of folds to the ribbon and staining from a silicone gel used to adhere the ribbon to its previous mounting, it could not be reversed to show the original colors. The ribbon is 455 mm long by 38 mm wide. The neck ties are 99 mm long. The date hallmark on the reverse of the neck badge is “C”, indicating an assay date of 1928-1929. The gold and blue enamel finial of the lower left star arm is bent slightly backwards.      Low-resolution image of the reverse of the Crabités 2nd Class neck badge showing the “LATTES” maker’s mark.       Moderate-resolution photo of the obverse of the Crabités 2nd Class breast star. The breast star measures 70 mm in diameter. The most distal gold flowers on the star arms exhibit 2 lateral marks and the single central mark from those 2 marks into the longer central petal. The two middle flowers have 3 lateral marks and a “V”-shaped mark outlining the central longer petals. Overall, the engraving is flowing and elegant. I apologize for the photo cutting off some of the inferior rayed embellishment detail.      Moderate-resolution photo of the reverse of the Crabités 2nd Class breast star. The photo does not show the gold and silver hallmarks in detail. The 3 Egyptian gold hallmarks on the reverse of the lower right star arm in the 5:00 position (from this view) show the Cairo assay office mark for 18 k gold, the ibis mark for Egyptian-made gold, and a date hallmark of “Z” =1924-1925. The silver hallmark is located on the rightmost longer ray of the 3 longest rays of the inferior portion of the embellishment . The three hallmarks identify the Cairo assay office mark for 900 silver, the cat mark for Egyptian-made silver, and the date hallmark “Z” =1924-1925. These date hallmarks are of interest to me. I have previously assumed that it would be common for some sets to show different hallmarks only if they were the adjacent two-year grouping (i.e., see photos 1-9 in my post of 22 February, 2019; photos in my post of 3 May 2024 shows another 1st Class set with such adjacent assay dates), indicating manufacture and assay that might have extended across the end of one year into the next (i.e., a date hallmark of “B”, 1927-1928, on one piece and a hallmark of “C”, 1928-1929, on the other element would suggest the pieces were made or assayed in 1928 as the date letters were being changed). I have written about some sets of the Order of Ismail with greater separation of date marks presuming it indicates a seller combining unassociated elements to offer a complete set (i.e., see photos 1-2 in my post of 1 Nov, 2019; photos 3-4 in my post of 15 January, 2020; photos 1-6 in my post of 24 May, 2022 shows date hallmarks of “A” on the sash badge [=1925-26] and “Y” on the breast star [1923-1924] of a 1st Class “set” sold by Auktionhaus Carsten Zeige on 21 May 2022, but the engraving of the gold floral elements of the arms of the breast star is distinctly more elaborate than that of the sash badge, while photos 7-10 of that post how another set with identically elaborate engraving on both elements [but no date hallmarks are visible or noted]; my post of 27 July, 2022 show the same “set” as in the Zeige May 2022 auction sold at a 28 July, 2022 auction by eMedals, with 15 additional photos of that group; my post of 9 November, 2023 shows 3 images of a 2nd Class set with date hallmarks of “Z”=1924-25 that is attributed to an award to a recipient in 1927). Combined unassociated elements could happen intentionally, or unintentionally, but the Crabités set indicates this assumption is not necessarily correct. The separation of the breast star assay date from that of the neck badge by at least 3 years could relate to the return of a set of regalia upon the death of a former recipient (for most Egyptian Orders, except the Order of Mohammed Ali, Star of King Fuad, Medal for Acts of Merit, Medal of Duty, and the Medal of Benevolence, in addition to the Medal of Palestine, Medal of the Centennial of Mohammed Ali, and the Order of Liberation). This is a stated rule about the awards (Hanafy, Magdy, 2023. Encyclopedia of Egyptian Protocol: Collars, Orders, and Medals, 1914-1953. Friends Group for Philately and Numismatics, Cairo. pg 117, from: Summary of The Decree of the Creation of the Order of Ismail, 26th of December, 1922, Fouad), but obviously many recipients’ heirs kept their insignia. It appears that the Crabités set may represent at least one element that was turned back to be re-distributed to the limited 75 living recipients of the 2nd Class Grand Officer Order of Ismail. Whether either piece represents a date close to when Pierre Crabités was awarded the Order of Ismail cannot be resolved without the brevet that has not yet been identified in some of the possessions still with Crabités descendants. I had expected the award to be closer to the 1933 publication date of his book Ismail: The Maligned Khedive, George Routledge and Sons, London, possibly because: "…these pages challenge a historical heresy. They refuse to join in the chorus led by Milner, Colvin, and Cromer, and to agree that Ismail Pasha, the first Khedive of Egypt, was a spendthrift, a voluptuary, and a thief. Not even great names can stand up against facts and figures culled from official sources" (Pierre Crabités from the Preface of this book, pg. vii).  However, this has helped me correct an unwarranted assumption I made about the meaning of date hallmark associations.      Low-resolution photo of the miniature Order of Ismail that I have added to the framed ensemble. Crabités does not appear to have ever had the miniature of this award. I purchased two miniature Order of Ismail, one (with the ribbon, gold and silver  galon, appropriate to the second Class mini, and rosette) that I intended to keep with the Crabités set and the other, without a ribbon, I gave to my wife as a necklace pendant. The miniature measures 20-21 mm in width, 30 mm to the top of the star and crescent element, the crown itself measures 10 mm tall x 9-10 mm in maximum widthe. The ribbon is 24 mm long and 13 mm wide. The rosette is 10 m wide x 5 mm tall, and the galon is 13 mm horizontally and 7 mm vertically.       Above is the completed framing of the Crabités Second Class Grand Officer Order of Ismail. The orientation of the neck ribbon has been corrected from the previous mounting of it upside down (with the ties adjacent to the neck badge). I illustrated the past framing in my post of 11 December, 2020 on this thread. I have added the miniature Order of Ismail and taken the portrait of Judge Crabités in his Cairo District Court regalia out of the smaller frame it was inside of in the previous mount. I also removed the Abbas Hilmi II commemorative medal that was in the frame, and mounted it separately with a second example I purchased so that both the obverse and reverse could be viewed I apologize for the skewed position of the mini, it was not sewn down with monofilament and does move slightly, but I can tap the frame edge and get it back to true. I have had it framed with museum quality glass to maximize UV protection of the ribbons and the portrait of Judge Crabités and minimize glare and reflection. 
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