922F

Seems Andreas Thies' latest auction catalog offers an Aftab set. Images now on-line at his site.

Many thanks for the http://deutsches-weh...rchiv.de/7.html contact!!!

Interesting & highly useful post!! The "Uniformen-Markt" contains valuable information [including on non-German topics] not readily available elsewhere. For example, Drs. Neubecker and Klietmann contributed much information from 'official sources', including dispatches from German ministries, embassies & consulates, that no longer exists at the point of origin.

Laurence, I see the CD on offer via Amazon, Germany & ask if you know of a cheaper price than 90 euros?

Yes, thank you, the link works now. The ribbon appears to be a very dark blue, similar to Leopold II tint, so #7 is not Peruvian. I agree that the rosette seems to be 2 lateral thin red lines brought together in the center and that usually rosettes have the same pattern (reduced) as the full size ribbon. With the Admiral's service record, perhaps an as yet unknown Naval Merit Order of Merit? But not a NATO country?

The last ribbon [#7] could be Peruvian.

Their Order of Merit for Distinguished Service has a light purple ribbon similar to a French Academic Palms tint [if it represented the French decoration, it would probably appear after the Legion of Honor ribbon and have a correctly matching rosette]. Peru's Order of Hipolito Unanue has a ribbon similar to #7's rosette [purple with a narrow red border]; it usually honors contributions of a medical nature. The ribbon & rosette in question seem to combine those two ribbons.

Peru instituted the Hipolito Unanue Order around 1955,

The link to http://www.marinebel...al2dpoullet.gif, does not link for me so I do not know whether the Vicomte had any connexion with Peru or the 'correct' ribbon tint.

An ephemeral 'Order' uses the Hipolito Unanue ribbon but I doubt the Vicomte would wear that, even if it was given to him.

Monaco's Grimaldi Order [established in 1954] takes a white ribbon with narrow red side-stripe so it does not appear to enter the potential candidate list.

#1 A 'Byzantine Holy Sepulchre Order' insignia, or [possibly] a 'mule' made by 'marrying' a spare Czarist Bulgarian crown suspension with a loose Holy Sepulchre cross. The Spanish firm Celjavo made Bulgarian suspension crowns with unengraved [flat] reverse infulae in the 1970s-80s. A similar appearing 'Byzantine Holy Sepulchre Order' insignia has the same components but with a blue enamel Jerusalem cross.

#2 Once identified as a St. Bridget Order 'honor-commander set' and again as a 'private' Pius or Piusan Order, not really sure of what organization this one represents. Judging by the star backplate made between 1950 and 1970.

A 7 March Post titled ' Help needed on this Italian Proxima Soli Order set' contains more information on these types of awards.

General de Gaulle's collar was displayed at the Museum of the Order of Liberation in Paris

Thanks for sharing this valuable information!!

Happy to assist. Forgot to mention that the firm Arturo Pozzi of Roma may be another of the possible insignia makers. The Order it was based on has a Habsburg-Este connection, perhaps further antagonising legitimists. This Eagle of Este quasi Order, as Aigle d'Este, must have drawn the ire of Papal & Italian authorities too as it is included in both proscribed lists..... see http://www.heraldica...ers/itbgord.htm for the Italian iteration.

It's generally hard to discover details about these sorts of organizations because 1) Many no longer exist or have very convuluted schisms c.f. Russian St. John Order 'priories' 2) While they generally have/had a specific organization complete with statutes, membership lists, Grand Master bios and so on, documents are usually impossible to locate 3) persons who feel 'taken-in' by such entities are reluctant to reveal information about them 4) many 'sailed close' to various personalities, actual titled families' awards, or 'questionable charitable activities' leading to legal actions against them thus those involved want to maintain their distances & 5) few people study them.

It's also difficult to assess such Orders' actual size/activity. The quality of the insignia really does not seem to indicate the 'heft' of these organizations. Some really do have hundreds of members, get involved in actual charity work, and serve more than just a social function. They may get well-known but perhaps 'uninformed' people to endorse them. Others exist mainly as ego-bosters or sources of income for fantasy prince grand masters, involving relatively few long-term members. An introduction to the general subject may be located at http://www.chivalric...asy/fantasy.htm.

Books on this topic include:

• Ordres et contre-ordres de chevalerie by Arnaud Chaffanjon, Mercure de France Paris 1982.
  
• Faux Chevaliers vrais gogos by Patrice Chairoff, Jean Cyrile Godefroy Paris 1985.
  
• The knightly twilight by Robert Gayre of Gayre, Lochore Enterprises Valletta 1973.
  
• Orders of knighthood, Awards and the Holy See by Peter Bander van Duren and Archbishop H.E. Cardinale (Apostolic Delegate in the United Kingdom), Buckinghamshire 1985.
  
• World Orders of Knighthood and Merit by Guy Stair Sainty and Rafal Heydel-Mankoo (ed), Burke's Peerage 2006.
  
• Ephemeral Decorations, Gillingham, H. E. New York, 1935. American Numismatical Society: Numismatic Notes and Mongraphs 66.
  
• Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, Knights of Fantasy: an overview, history, and critique of the self-styled 'Orders' called 'of Saint John' or 'of Malta', in Denmark and other Nordic countries, Turku 2002, ISBN 951-29-2265-7
  
• 
  

These books may be consulted via the Library of Congress and the American Numismatic Assn. library---sometimes copies appear on alibris, Amazon or eBay.

The French on-line society has a couple of members interested in the subject. My studies in this area began in the early 1970s without much to show for it.

Insignia of an ephemeral Eagle of Este 'based/derived' Order.....

This Order may be known by various name styles such as Eagle of Este and Saint Pablo, Eagle of Este and Saint Vitus, and Aigle d'Este. Guy Stair Sainty's 'self-styled orders' websites may have info regarding this and similar related orders. Don't remember if it's on the Vatican or Italian lists of non-recognized/proscribed Orders but seem to recall it appeared just before WW I then in the 1920's-30s and again in the late '40s-early '60s.

Likely post-WWII made insignia probably by Alberti [Milano] or Johnson [Roma]. Bob McNamara had a Grand Cross set of similar manufacture perhaps bought by G. Tammann in the 1980s--the sash on that was like a St. Sava sash [white with blue stripes near edge].

Burke [World Orders of Knighthood & Merit] pp. 661-3 details the former Modena [italian State] Order upon which these are based.

Hi David

The upper row in frame is composed by a previous collector. I do not know the recipient of the bottom row and the last medal is not correct. I still need to find the correct medal but I do not know the the Ribbon (It is not Order of St. Anna). Please help

Red with narrow white stripe and perhaps a missing rosette----Given context---Possibly Polonia Restutia -- Poland Restored?

And yes it is the Knight of the "Falke Orden" you see.

Regards

North Denmark

Another possibility----Bulgarian bravery ribbon: Note aspect of the thin, different contrasting stripe &, under magnification, the rhombic device shape [perhaps a tzarist Bulgarian crown]. If a Bulgarian crown, most likely a Military Merit Order officer or commander but possibly a Military Bravery Order fourth class, first grade.

Several eBay vendors offer a first type Republic of Italy Order of Merit star at prices ranging from US$45 to US$150. The same, usually Chinese-based, vendors supply copy republican Chinese, fantasy, and other decorations leading one to suspect that these Order of Merit stars are also recent copies made in China. The dull metal body stars have relatively good quality, vitreous [fired] or hard enamel. Overall, especially reverse, finishing compares poorly with original Italian-made pieces. The star rays do not correspond to those of genuine insignia in appearance or execution. Almost all Italian-made stars are silver and usually so marked.

Here's an image of a suspect Italian Merit Order, first type star:

and an image of the reverse:

Thank you, Nick! Am not with references at present and, indeed, forgot that page existed.

Here's an image of the copy Italian Merit star:

and reverse image

For more of these apparent Chinese-origin copiers' products, see post/thread 'French order help. Military Order of Notre Dame of Sorrow?' which includes an image of another similar recently made star. eBay vendors, among others, offer first type Italian Republic Merit Order stars with the same manufacturing characteristics/provenance.

Hello Galitzine,

Thank you for providing access to these images!! Very impressive decorations and excellent photos. Simply wonderful that family members retain so many of his awards.

The photo images confirm at least Slatin's Osmanie [commander?] badge and a Medjidjie star as well as a Maurice and Lazarus [commander?] badge. In the 4th image the first award before the bar may well be a Congo Free State/Belgian Lion Order [commander?] badge.

And the decoration image includes awards [Austrian Elizabeth Order and red cross medal on bow] possibly attributable to Baroness Alice von Ramberg [his wife].

As a Khedival/Ottoman bey, likely he would have Osmanie/Medjidjie grades as well. The image appears to show a Belgian/Congo Free State Lion Order badge in the first position and an Italian Maurice & Lazarus before the White Falcon.

Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives / la Orden de Nuestra Señora de la Merced y la Redención de los Cautivos / Ordo Beatæ Mariæ Virginis de Redemptione Captivorum AKA Order of Our Lady of Mercy, Order of Our Lady of Sorrow, and other varients on this style.

Insignia of a 'revival' of a secular 'branch' of a Roman Catholic religious order [dates from 1218]. An award for 'charity'. Recognized by some Roman Catholic authories. Semi-Active in Portugal, Italy, and related nations; more active in Spain and related countries. Offshoots exist of varying degrees of rectitude. Guy Stair Sainty and other 'self-styled Orders experts' discuss these entities in print and on-line--try Google.

This particular item appears to be of very recent Chinese origin manufactured by the same folks who bring us odd looking Striped Tiger stars, among other things. They also produce a copy of the Italian Republic's Merit Order first type star.

Thanks. Indeed grand officer set looks like it has cold enamel and made in white metal.

Not typical quality for Cejalvo's pieces.

But then again... Modern pieces could have inferior quality...

Cheers,

Nick

Have seen some Cejalvo, Cravanzola, da Costa, Eng Leong, and Guccione attributed work made in the past year or so; their quality remains fairly high/consistent with what they've done in the past decade. That is, hot enamel and even, in a few cases, sub-enamel metal [champlevé ] work. It appears that several countries decided to encourage their own economies and so turned to national or regional manufacturers--Madagascar springs to mind. Brazilian and Peruvian firms, at least, are working the general Central/South American market. All Madagascar and most Brazilian and Peruvian recent product seems to have flat epoxy type enamel.

Hi 922F!

Do you mean grand officer set?

Thanks,

Nick

Very possibly; but I intended to specify the Grand Cross pieces. I had a GC in gold [gilt] set bought in Honduras in 1996. This high quality insignia had a Cejalvo maker plate on the star reverse, silver fineness marks on the badge ring & star pin and a Cejalvo printed label on the inside case lid. The sash was the same as that shown in Megan's image. The case was colored green in a shade similar to that of the sash. I visited the orders chancery in summer 1996; officials kindly showed me a few pieces of this order, among other things. All workmanship was similar to the GC pieces pictured in Megan's first posts. And yes, the GO stars had 5 point stars attached to the badge in the same fashion as Sr. Zaratiegui's star! Attractive but not too practical.

Sr. Zaratiegui's Grand Officer set does not appear to have as good quality enamel work as pieces seen in 1996, perhaps it even has epoxy type enamel--note especially the lack of definition in the central disc map & motto ring enamel work. The GO ribbon appears to have a different green hue--ones I saw were of the same duller green hue as the GC sash with silver color stripes in place of the gold color ones in the sash. 1996 Commander cravat ribbons were of the same green hue as the sash, without side stripes. Cravat ties were similar to those of Sr. Zaratiegui's, of a thinner , non-ribbed, satin material.

Maybe another maker supplied Juan Zaratiegui's insignia or Cejalvo's quality has declined?

Manufactured by Cejalvo of Madrid

zeljko.toussaint@st.tel.hr.com manufactures ribbon to 1970s-80s Rothe type standard. Several years ago, for sash widths, the minimum length was 45 or 50 meters--enough for 17-21 sashes depending on individual length & bow style. Cost was about 100 euros per sash. He also could do 33-35 mm wide ribbon and would do 50 meters minimum--price was slightly less than sashes. He now has an internet shop and sells via eBay.

A German dealer orden@german-military.de has a wide variety of ribbon stock, international as well as German items. Sometimes, however, it is difficult to communicate with him.

Thanks for sharing this! A wonderful grouping. Too bad St. Sava & Civil Merit stars are missing--looks like the Civil Merit Order is first class rather than a grand cross, based on badge size, sash width & lack of bow. Wonder why the ribbon bar displays 2 Sava ribbons. The Sava mini looks to have a first type reverse.

Apprently in 2008, the Rwandan government declared Kinyarwanda, English and French all official languages with equal status. The Rwandan official website appears silent on whether these and other decorations are available with reverse inscriptions in Kinyarwanda or French as well as English. .

Russians & Lions? Do you know of the short story concerning a provincial Russian official and a visiting Persian diplomat? S.G. Yasinitsky translated this relatively unknown work by Gogol [if I recall correctly] published in a 1960s or '70s "Medal Collector" issue. Somewhat of a predictible ordens-hunger story, but amusing. Perhaps worth reading in this thread's context. Would expect that OMSA's copyright sensitivity & Yasinitsky's intellectual property right [his apparently is the first English translation of the story--a French translation reportedly appeared in the early 1950s] prohibits the story's appeance here without permission/authorization. Perhaps another member knows the exact "Medal Collector" issue in which Yasinitsky's translation appeared.