Great Dane

And the second one... (again, sorry about the quality and size) In both groups the Danish medal is the Medal of Recompense. /Mike

For the pleasure of Rick and others, here are two mounted groups with the same Danish ribbon. Both are from past Thies auctions Sorry about the picture quality and size... /Mike

A "Golden Medal" and a "Silver Medal" can refer to both the Medal of Merit and the Medal of Recompense. It would probably not be the Life Saving Medal because the no. of medals in gold awarded in this time period can be counted on one hand. /Mike

He definitely seems to have been a soldier, so I think I will rule out the Danish Ingenio et Arti medal. I know that both the Danish Medal of Merit, Medal of Recompense were allowed to be worn as a 'ribbon only'. I'm not so sure about the Life Saving Medal. Anyway, the Medal of Merit or the Medal of Recompense is the most likely candidates... /Mike

Yes, the last ribbon is the Danish ribbon used for several medals. Apart from Life Saving and Merit it could also be for the Medal of Recompense or the Ingenio et Arti medal. If you find out who he was (obviously) or what his line of work was I should be able to narrow it down. /Mike

No.2 is the Taisho Enthronement Medal (Japan) and no. 3 is the Enthronement Commemorative Medal (Manchuko). The bar is shown upside down. That would also make a foreign award (Italian Crown Order?) more plausible as the last of the three. /Mike

I agree about the cross being the Bulgarian Order of St, Alexander, but it's clearly swords between the crown and the cross - not tassels. Swords mounted like this does not mean a military award but were awarded for 'acts of courage in peace-time' ('acts of bravery in war-time' had swords through the center medallion). /Mike

Thanks Rick, The autograph was on one of my Red Eagle docs too and I just had to know /Mike

Very interesting group, Brian. Take a look at this link: Moritz Paul Hennige I think the Erinnerungs-Medaille must be his because the name on the document is actually 'Moritz Paul Hennige' with a line under 'Paul' meaning this was the name he used. He was married two times - both times to a Marie(!). The Marie in your document group must be his second wife. A bit off topic: Do you know who signed the document in post #7? /Mike

Here is a picture of "Ordre du Merite Civil et Militaire d'Adolphe de Nassau" (Cross of Merit in gold): /Mike

Third one on top row definitely looks like the "Ordre du Merite Civil et Militaire d'Adolphe de Nassau" (Cross of Merit in silver or gold). /Mike

I can even add that van Wessem received his knight cross of the Order of Dannebrog on 9. July 1866 I think that the first medal in the second row is Dutch (but I am no expert on that...), so maybe he was just a little 'sloppy' with his medals? /Mike

I agree on the Order of Christ (Portugal). The Order of Dannebrog is the far right in the top row. /Mike

HANGING FROM NECK : - Order of St. Stanislaus (Russia) - Orden vom Weissen Falken (Sachsen) TOP ROW: Far right: Order of the Dannebrog, knight (Denmark) /Mike

I agree with saschaw - those pinkish stripes are definitely the Bavarian Order of Hl. Michael... I'm not so sure about ribbon no.2 though. Normally the Italian Order of the Crown would have red-white-red stripes of the same width, but this one seems to have a narrower white stripe. Is there a German order/medal with these colors? That would fit nicely between the Prussian and the Bavarian ones. /Mike

Chris, It's not black backing cloth, it's dirty (oxidized?) silver wings meaning a Commander class. /Mike

If you look at the proportions of the white/green/blue on the rosette, they are exactly the same as on the ribbon itself. To me it doesn't look like something that has been tampered with... I don't think it's the Iranian Order of the Crown... /Mike

Russia had a habit of using the same ribbon on different medals and orders (and different ribbons on the same medal). The first 3 ribbons are also used on medals, but their placement on the bar indicates they were for the orders you describe. Ribbon #4 could also be: - Medal for the Far East Naval Expedition (1907) If ribbon #6 is russian, it could be: - Commemorative Medal of the Reign of Alexander III (1896) - Medal for Zeal But if ribbon #5 is non-russian (which I think it is), the #6 is probably 'foreign' as well. /Mike

Sorry Paul, I didn't mean to imply that the price was too high It was only to illustrate what financial state I should have to buy all French's documents. I realize that your document it extremely rare and not something you come across every day. Congratulations with your purchase. I'm pretty happy with mine as well (it just arrived today) /Mike

Thanks for the answers to both of you. Actually I never considered the possibility of him not having permission to wear it... I would be really grateful if anyone could confirm that he actually was awarded the order, but maybe lists of foreign recipients are not easily available? The question arose because I recently purchased the award document for the Danish Order of the Dannebrog (Grand Cross) to French at the DNW auction. Although I am a firm believer in keeping all letters/documents to a person together, DNW chose to sell them as individual lots and I didn't have the financial means to buy them all (the award document for the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun (Grand Cordon with Paulownia Blossoms) got a hammer price of ?2000! ) A forum member from another forum (I can't remember if he is a member here as well...) is putting together a list of French's awards, and the only reference to the Order of the Red Eagle is from the biography I mentioned. /Mike

Hello gentlemen, Can anybody confirm if Field-Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French received the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle? And if yes, which class? In French's biography written by his son it says that French received this order in 1911 during a visit in Mecklenburg where he attended German Army manoeuvres. Knowing French's feelings towards what he clearly saw as a future enemy, it would not be surprising if he didn't wear it much (which would explain why I never have seen a photo of him wearing it). Thanks, /Mike

I'll cross my fingers for you, eitze BTW, isn't it strange that so many Auction Houses (where you can bid by e-mail or a form on their website) don't inform you about your wins/losses at least a couple of days after the auction has ended? I have participated in quite a few of these auctions and the level of service varies considerably. Floyd, Johnson & Payne always mails you soon after the auction telling you what you won and didn't win, whereas Zeige and others don't inform you at all. You'll have to wait for the published result and even then you can't be sure, if the lot ended on your max. bid. Did I get it or did someone else put in a similar bid earlier? Then you can wait for the package to arrive in the mail, but since many of these auctions are in foreign countries it can take 4-8 weeks. During this period you have no idea if you won your lot or if you can spend the money on something else... I have sometimes tried to mail them about the result 1-2 weeks after the auction but have always got a reply that can be boiled down to "Just wait for the mailman, can't you see we're busy!" (although using more polite words...). /Mike

Judging from previous experiences with Thies, it can take weeks before the auction result is available on their website. Especially now with all the Christmas holidays... /Mike

Strange... According to my books, The Cambodian Order was awarded with a green and red ribbon for locals and white with yellow stripes for foreigners...? Nothing is mentioned of a green ribbon with narrow yellow stripes... The Iranian Order is the Order of Merit. /Mike

Right. See? I knew it was a stupid question... /Mike