Great Dane

Isn't that the Delhi Durbar version of the 1911 Coronation Medal?

/Mike

Fortunately I have only rarely encountered this problem, but it happened a few months ago in a DNW auction and it really made me think:

DNW was auctioning away award documents and letters belonging to Field Marshal John French. Each award document and each letter was a separate lot. This could have been an obvious case of 'group splitting', but on the other hand

- The items for auction was not his complete set, so even if they were one lot it wasn't the whole picture.

- Should letters/documents be separated or not? The letters were not related to the award documents.

- If yes, then what about a wooden box also belonging to him? Also part of the same lot?

I hope you see what I mean...

I'm just trying to point out that some cases are obvious whereas some other cases are not so clear...

/Mike

Hi Marc,

First of all, we don't know if this group is 'identified' in the final auction catalog.

But there is a silent agreement in the forum not to reveal the recipient of auction items which are auctioned off as unidentified, i.e. to not do the research for them and raise the price.

I'm sure a few people in here can identify the recipient, so you could try to PM them

/Mike

Hello Dave and welcome to the forum

Are we seeing the whole picture?

I can spot a Polish order, an Austrian Franz Josef order and the ribbon of a Third Reich Motherhood cross.

/Mike

Tom,

Does The Little Field Marshal mention which foreign awards French received (and when)?

/Mike

Denmark - Order of the Elephant (awarded 21. November 1954)

/Mike

well he wears his CO the wrong way round does he not?

Actually, no. It is the wrong way up in the picture, but if you take a close look at it you'll see it will 'flip' if allowed to hang free.

/Mike

My guess:

Russian Commemorative Medal of the Reign of Tsar Alexander III (1896).

Here is a picture of it:

/Mike

No. 13 in the showcase is the Danish Order of the Elephant.

I don't know what no. 4 is...

/Mike

I don't know what the description will be when the catalog comes out. In the one page preview it's only descibed as belonging to a highly decorated WWI officer.

I understand your bit of letting them do their own homework

Just wanted to show it, that's all...

/Mike

Here is a picture taken from the forthcoming Hermann Historica auction (preview pdf file):

What's the second one from the right on the top bar?

/Mike

Nice family member

If I'm not mistaken, the first one is the Bulgarian Order of St. Cyril and Methodius.

Take a look at its larger cousin here at eMedals:

St. Cyril and Methodius

/Mike

Well, if nobody has a complete list, we can take them one by one

Here is my small contribution:

Napoleon was awarded the Danish Order of the Elephant in May 1808.

/Mike

I'm not sure about copies, but there were different manufacturers with variations in their design.

I can PM you a link to a thread in another forum, where this has been discussed (I don't know if it's frowned upon to put the link here...)

/Mike

BTW, even the Persian order is listed correctly in the article. 4th grade = 5 arms, and that's what he is wearing...

/Mike

Could his unknown breast star be the Belgian Order of the Crown?

It looks like the star awarded for Commander 1. class (aka Grand Officer) and - although my Dutch is non-existing - I would interpret "Commandeur en groot-officier" in the article as Grand Officer.

/Mike

Found it! (the cross with the GD inside)

Waldeck - Milit?r-Verdienstorden, Kreuz 1. Klasse

(2. class was without oakleaves)

/Mike

"Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog from Sweden"...

I say... go wash your mouth with soap...

/Mike

I don't think it's the Order of the Oaken Crown. It looks like the Prussian Crown Order (it has the extra 'line' on the cross arms) and it's probably the Star of this order on his breast (it looks correct for this order - it's definitely not from the Swedish Order of the Sword or the Italian Crown Order).

The rightmost order in the mounted group is indeed the Danish Order of Dannebrog.

/Mike

What Grand Cross is he wearing?

The sash and the right star must belong to it...

/Mike

FYI:

He was awarded the Danish Order of Dannebrog (Commander 1.class) 10. May 1922.

/Mike

Great bar and a great result!

I just love it when research work pays off

/Mike

I'll have a go at the first part:

"Anbei empfangen Sie, dass Ihnen heute, im Namen Sr. Majest?t der Kaiser und K?nig von Sr. Exellenz dem kommandierenden Herrn General verliehene Eiserne Kreuz II Kl."

/Mike

In English:

Prussia, 12 years Service Medal

In German:

Preussen, Dienstauszeichnung f?r 12 Jahre

/Mike

Jacky,

Remember the Legion d'Honneur has 5 cross arms, not 4. In my opinion it is clearly a LdH...

I agree that medal #4 is the medal for the Crimean War. It also fits the timeframe for someone who participated in that war in the 1850s and then later received some orders (the Legion d'Honneur is the post-1870 model).

/Mike