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    Austrian Made St. Sava's


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    I have always appreciated the Order of Saint Sava for one of the most beautifully designed medals. In this thread I wish to explore Austrian made St. Sava and examine the different Austrian maker types. First I will start with a Karl Fleischhacker made Commander medal.

    "Karl Fleischhacker received his license in 1891 and established a firm at Peyerlgasse 4 and later on at No.7, in the 16th district of Vienna. This was the firms address until 1908 when it closed down. Business with the Kingdom of Serbia probably started soon after the firm had been established in the 1890's, when Fleischhacker took over the production over all Serbian royal orders. Karl Fleischhacker had a major influence on the production of Anton Fürst and Jacob Lesser." ( From the book, Serbian and Yugoslavian Orders and Decorations by Pavel Car and Tomislav Muhié.) The makers mark for Karl Fleishhacker is an oval with the letters KF inside. Karl Fleischhacker did not produce his own packaging and used Maksim Antonijevich for packaging and delivery. The cases were a standard red color. The medallion painter for this workshop produced very high quality paintings and Karl Fleischhacker was known for the highest Viennese quality in production. This particular III Class commander medal was produced in the Obrenovich Dynasty 1883-1903 and is the first type in production with the Monogram "M" on the back.The "M" was a monogram for King Milan I Obrenovich and this was changed to 1883 during the Karageorgevich Dynasty (1903-1918). One interesting anomaly that this badge exhibits, is a different type crown than others that were produced by the Fleischhacker workshop and this larger crown is known to be included in a portion of Fleischhacker production of St. Sava medals. The crown is wider and larger resembling a crown that could be found on the Order of San Marinus (Republic of San Marino). just below the crown are two hallmarks that were stamped into the link attaching medal to crown, KF in an oval and the Silver Mark of a lion greyhound head with the letter "A" and "4". This was the Austrian Silver mark for silver fineness 750. I have noticed that the balls on the tips of the Maltese cross seem a bit larger on earlier production types of St. Sava. The earlier medallions of St. Sava were all hand painted by artists and slight variations can seen even with the same workshop. It appears that Karl Fleischhacker used the same artist to paint all his St. Sava's.

    Edited by Markus
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    Markus,

    Thanks for pictures! Great idea, I can see that this is the beginning of an excellent topic!

    Here's just a small contribution, couple of pictures of KF hallmark I found on my hard drive.

    http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-55974200-1389223521.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-34854600-1389223535.jpg

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    Thanks Radmilo for the close ups of the Maker marks and silver mark! My next St.Sava will be a Rothe made St.Sava, as soon as it arrives. My macro lens does not get all that close, so the marks didn't show that well.

    Edited by Markus
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    Don't mention it Markus. Absolutely beautiful piece! My congrats :beer:

    By the way, is it just me or is that crown also resembling some crowns that can be found on Belgian orders? I think we had similar discussion on this matter before...

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    Here's that crown: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/58460-serbia-order-of-st-sava-commander-1st-type-m/?p=544793

    Actually I compared it with the Greek Order of the Redeemer.

    One more similar one can be found in this topic: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/58993-serbia-order-of-st-sava-v-class-1883-huguenin-freres/?hl=sava

    I apologize for going a little bit off topic and hope you don't mind, but these crowns are very interesting to me.

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    Here's that crown: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/58460-serbia-order-of-st-sava-commander-1st-type-m/?p=544793

    Actually I compared it with the Greek Order of the Redeemer.

    One more similar one can be found in this topic: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/58993-serbia-order-of-st-sava-v-class-1883-huguenin-freres/?hl=sava

    I apologize for going a little bit off topic and hope you don't mind, but these crowns are very interesting to me.

    Radmilo, the different crown issue is indeed interesting. I think it must have been a production related issue. Perhaps they ran out of the regular crown of St. Sava medals and substituted a crown from another one of their productions or someone pulled the wrong crown element from their supply without noticing it was a different variety. The medal workshops produced many different country order medals, so a mixup is conceivable. The issue of different crowns only surfaced with a portion of their product and wasn't a permanent change. It is probably one of those mysteries that we will never know.

    Markus

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    Great topic :D looking reallll good :) and thanks for posting your Sava :D :D

    Roji,

    Thanks for posting your St. Sava in an earlier thread. I enjoyed the topic and share your enthusiasm for this beautiful order medal!

    Markus ;)

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    The Rothe & Neffe workshop was the first producer of the Order of St. Sava in the Obrenovich Dynasty. As other Austrian medal workshops were commissioned to produce the St. Sava order as well, the Rothe & Neffe medals were less frequently seen. Rothe & Neffe were one of the most famous names in the world of fine arts and many Royal houses in Europe commissioned Rothe & Neffe to produce their order medals. The Rothe & Neffe workshop was well known for producing the highest quality medals and produced with exacting standards faithful to the specifications demanded by the orders blueprint. The makers hallmark were stamped generally into the medal ring, the letters, "FR"( the initials of Friedrich Rothe). The medallion portrait paintings of Rothe & Neffe were of the highest quality and detail and did not vary that much throughout their production. The Rothe & Neffe workshop delivered their medals in their own case, red color with the Serbian coat of arms stamped in gold on the cover. Later the firm became known as C.F. Rothe. The firm had a very long life from beginning in 1849 to it's slow demise in the 1980's with the end of the demand for high quality Order medals with old world craftmanship. This is a type 1, 4th class St. Sava produced by the Rothe & Neffe workshop with an "FR" stamped on the ring. Purchased this medal from Emedals.

    Information sourced from the book, Serbian and Yugoslavian Orders and Decorations, by Pavel Car & Tomislav Muhié. Photos by Emedals.

    Edited by Markus
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    Very nice addition :D did you pick up the case as well :)(I believe the case in the photos is for a Royal Household medal but almost similar to St. Sava :)

    Edited by Rogi
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    Very nice addition :D did you pick up the case as well :)(I believe the case in the photos is for a Royal Household medal but almost similar to St. Sava :)

    Hi Igor,

    No I just used the case as an example for Rothe cases.

    Markus

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    The Workshop of George Adam Scheid was founded in Vienna in 1882. The products of Scheid's workshop were marked G.A.S.on medal rings and a mark of G.A.SCHEID-WIEN was stamped on pins and stars. The Scheid workshop joined in production of the Serbian orders after 1890 and his workshop produced almost all of the Serbian royal orders. Scheid's workshop continued to produce Serbian orders, after the Austrian/Serbian relations had cooled with the May Coup, and the other Austrian medal producers ceased production for Serbia. The Scheid workshop was one of the last series of workshops to produce the St. Sava order in the Obrenovich Dynasty. In the first years of producing the St. Sava, the Saint Sava paintings on the medallions was very detailed and finely painted. In later years in producing the second type of St. Sava, the paintings were simplified. It is interesting that the Scheid firms legacy lives on with the former medal foundry he founded eventually becoming the Austrian State Refinery For Precious Medals. Georg Adam Scheid died in 1921 and his firm went bankrupt in 1922. Attached is a Scheid made Commander type I, St. Sava. Photographs by Emedals. Information sourcing from Serbian and Yugoslavian Orders and Decorations, by Pavel Car and Tomislav Muhié.

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    This is the Type II St. Sava by Scheid workshop. Scheid seems to be the most prevalent Austrian maker of type II St. Sava's. Photos by Emedals.

    Edited by Markus
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    This medallion paintings is Type II Scheid produced. The painting looks more simplified in form and is from the later years, when Scheid simplified the paintings.

    Edited by Markus
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    Slightly better pictures of the star and the badge.

    http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-07724500-1389465196.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-51884800-1389465217.jpg

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    G.A.S 1st class form the collection of the Serbian National Museum.

    It belonged to Milenko Vesnić, according to information from the museum's website it should be 2nd type.

    Edited by paja
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    KF 5th class from emedals.

    http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-46040100-1389465798.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-91720200-1389465788.jpg

    Edited by paja
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    Same image of the saint, one more G.A.S. 3rd class.

    http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-29861000-1389466979.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-28519100-1389466990.jpg

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