paja

Kvashnin Anatoly (Анатолий Васильевич Квашнин) awarded with the Order of the Yugoslav Star 1st class. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Kvashnin

Back side.

For comparison - order without swords from emedals made by I think the same producer (compare the inscription on the blue ribbon). http://www.emedals.com/collectors-gallery/europe/serbia/orders/order-of-takovo/case-order-of-takovo-2

Rogi, Thanks for your respond, I just want to make this clear for some of the forum members which are maybe not that familiar with the whole story behind the order with swords. Considering that the cross with swords for war merits was instituted in 1883, after the Wars for Liberation and Independence, those who received it during the war were suppose to deliver their orders (without swords) to the Chancery of the Royal Orders. Chancery would then return the decorations to recipients after the swords were applied. Some of the recipients did not do so but ordered completely new decorations instead. So swords were really added later on a certain amount of orders, but this was done professionally by some of the workshops which were involved in the production of the Serbian orders. This is obviously not the case with the piece from above...

Perhaps it came from here, looks the same to me. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/8077513

Back side is even worse! Notice how the both sides, front and back, are the same. That is not the case with original pieces, back side of the swords is as far as I know either flat or engraved.

I am not completely sure where I got these images from but I think that they are from ebay. I believe someone took regular Order of the Cross of Takovo 4th class (looks like the product of Vincent Mayer’s Söhne to me) and then attached very poor quality swords on it. Notice how crude and with unclear details are those swords. I also think that they are smaller in size. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-00145400-1389977724.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-21219300-1389977735.jpg

Dragomir, Thank you very much on that! I've heard very good things about "Slava i čast", still haven't had a chance to see it myself, but I'll make sure to get a copy of my own soon. Best regards, Radmilo

One more painting of the Queen wearing the Order of the Star of Karađorđe (perhaps not the one with the brilliants?).

Queen Marija wearing the star.

Dragomir, Thank you for the correction! I know that Sultan Mehmed's order was made by Bertrand so I assumed that this piece, although different, was the product of the same workshop. Could you maybe answer Paul's question regarding the dimensions? These images were made by Dejan Ilić Unuče so all the credit goes to him. I am not sure where is the order at this moment. I read in one article that it is returned to Karađorđevićs. But there was also information that it was just given for the ceremony when earthly remains of the Queen Marija were transferred from England to Serbia last year. Perhaps Dragomir can give us more information on this matter.

One more picture of the star from different angle.

I believe it was made by French producer Arthus-Bertrand. Closeups. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-59211700-1389814136.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-14907100-1389814150.jpg

Not that long ago this Queen Marija's Order of the Star of Karađorđe was found in one of Tito's safes along with many other treasures that belonged to Karađorđević dynasty. Order with brilliants was awarded twice before that - to the last Emperor of Russia Nicholas II and to the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V. These are the best images I found.

Rogi, I was in a middle of writing my reply when you posted yours, I must say that I agree with you, I believe that someone replaced year with monogram. The only problem with that theory are those holes I mentioned, look how many of them are on the back side. But I guess it can't be that hard to fill them, the question is how much would that be visible... Also one more thing, it could be that this replacement was not done by some vet but by a person who knows that pieces with monogram are couple of times more expensive than those with 1883 on the back...

Markus, We can only thank you for starting it! So we probably solved the mystery behind that piece. About the other one, these two images next to it made me think of Bertrand, there are some similarities (rest of the pictures are from Verlag Militaria website). Piece just like that can be found in Car&Muhić under unknown producers, according to them it could be that the order was made in some German workshop.

But after closely examining back side of the order with monogram I am no longer that sure about it's authenticity... On that Huguenin from LM the whole central medallion on the back is replaced, here the medallion is not replaced but it could be that the monogram was added later. On the other hand look how many "holes" on the back medallion are there on II type Bertrand, I believe that it is not possible that all of them are covered with monogram...

When I compare these two I can easily say that they are both definitely Bertrand. Those half circles around the central medallion are like that only on orders made by Bertrand (at least I think so...). And not only that, many other details are the same.

I can not say with absolute certainty that they are Bertrand's orders, but based on the image of the saint both Paul and I think that they are French. None of the books that I have or had states anything similar, as far as I know Bertrand's not on any list of the I type producers... Sorlini orders with saint in red robes are described by Car & Muhić in their book, all of them have FS (Fran Sorlini) and silver hallmarks on the suspension ring. I must admit that I like this variant much more than the rest of them made by the same producer.

One more from this topic http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/55927-kingdom-of-serbia-st-sava-unknown-producer/ http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-27317100-1389721817.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-16976200-1389721829.jpg

Markus mentioned different types of this order, generally speaking I type is with monogram, II is with year 1883 on the back side and the saint in red robes, and III is also with 1883 on the back but the saint is in green robes. Based on this classification Sorlini can also be put among producers of the II type. This one's from emedals: http://www.emedals.com/collectors-gallery/europe/serbia/orders/order-of-st-sava/order-of-st-sava-4?vmcchk=1 http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-45017600-1389721722.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-99719500-1389721731.jpg

They look authentic unlike this from Liverpool medals first showed on the forum by obi007 http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/58460-serbia-order-of-st-sava-commander-1st-type-m/ http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-84309300-1389720582.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-53277900-1389720594.jpg http://www.liverpoolmedals.com/Order-of-St.-Sava-Commander-Ist-Type-M.html

Paul was kind enough to share images of this one with us. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-23362700-1389720201.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-24935400-1389720207.jpg

This is a good opportunity to continue old discussion we had in Rogi's topic: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/57582-purchasing-st-sava-order-tips/ Look at the following two orders, images of the saint look like Bertrand's but there's monogram on the back side... http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-64033000-1389719876.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-7937-0-63975100-1389719889.jpg

Greetings Heradlic, That's Bertrand's 4th class order. Very nice example if I may add.