General Gordon's Star for the Siege of Khartoum

[lilo]

Ed,

The museum has some very interesting items,including a type of uniform worn by General Gordon and various weapons used by the Mahdi army.If there is interest,I can post more photgraphs as a seperate topic.

Hello Sabrigade,

Have you visited the museum ?

I'm still very interested in seeing what it (the museum) contains including the uniform worn by General Gordon so, please post all the photos you have.

Regards

Lilo

[sabrigade]

Hi Lilo,

Khartoum has returned to normality again. I will go there in the following few days and take some photographs. I have been on the road again over the past few weeks.

Regards,

Will

[Rusty Greaves]

The most recent Liverpool Medals catalog is offering an example of the uncommon pewter Gordon's Star for the Siege of Khartoum, SKU: J9269, £1,795.00  (https://www.liverpoolmedals.com/product/gordon-star-for-the-siege-of-khartoum?mc_cid=edaa511724&mc_eid=eb61970ca6). Are there any experts who can weigh in on the authenticity of such a piece stated to also have an original ribbon? Taz's post of 8 May 2008 is the only other contribution showing a fragment of a ribbon. Identify Medals states that the ribbon was either deep blue or red (https://www.identifymedals.com/database/medals-by-country/great-britain-medals/the-general-gordons-star-for-the-siege-of-khartoum/). A 1965 article in the British Numismatic Society Journal provides some scholarly treatment of this decoration (https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/pdfs/1965_BNJ_34_23.pdf). 

 

 

High-resolution image of Liverpool Medals offering of Gordon's Star for the Siege of Khartoum,  obverse. As noted in the quoted description below, the medal was adapted from General Gordon's own Ottoman Order of Medjidie. The inscription is translated as: “The Siege of Khartoum” with the Hijri date of 1883/84. This photo and that below of the reverse can be zoomed for greater details.

 

 

High-resolution image of the Liverpool Medals offering of a Gordon's Star for the Siege of Khartoum,reverse.

 

Some of the information in the description is not included in past posts by folks knowledgable about and interested in this unofficial medal. It does describe it as being sandcast in pewter, and provides a translation of the central inscription. Here is the verbatim Liverpool Medals description: 

 

"General Gordon’s Star for the Siege of Khartoum, an Original example of the Pewter sand cast copy of General Gordon’s Order of the Medjidie Badge. 

 

A complete example with attached crescent suspension, in good preserved condition with all tips of the arms surviving.

 

This unusual star is likely to be the lowest quality British Order or Medal ever produced. That is because it was produced during the Siege of Khartoum, by order of “General Gordon of Khartoum”. Major General Charles George Gordon, aka “Gordon Pasha”, was a highly decorated War Hero under employment of the Khedive of Egypt, serving as his Governor General of Sudan.

 

After a lengthy and epic siege, General Gordon was desperately in need of the British Relief Force, but they arrived too late.

 

The Mahdi had breached the city, and send in his man to capture Gordon, apparently as they swarmed him, he stood at the top of the steps with his revolver and sword, and died there, where he and his body servant, took out as many as they could manage before he went down swinging his sword.

 

By the time his servant awoke from the action, Gordon’s head had been removed and taken as a trophy. By nightfall the Garrison had been slaughtered to the last man.

 

During the siege, morale was extremely low and things were looking rather dire for the defenders.

 

The star of course bears a striking resemblance to the Egyptian Order of the Medjidie, Mecidiye Nişanı, General Gordon owned one of these examples and use it as the basis for the new medal.

 

General Gordon decided to make a medal to award to those trapped, he drew up the medal based on his own Order of the Medjidie and had a goldsmith called Bishara Abdul Malik during 1884 produce the medals, made mostly from Pewter.

 

As there was a lack of previous metals available and machinery, the pieces were made rather crudely from mostly Pewter, with some other bits of silver and gold etc mixed in depending on the piece, by the Sand Casting process, with a few key features changed by General Gordon to properly transform it into the “Khartoum Star”.

 

The Arabic Script around the centre was replaced by “The Siege of Khartoum” and dated in the Arabic Calendar translating to 1883/4.

 

Shortly after they were made, the Mahdists overwhelmed Khartoum and murdered General Gordon, it was then believed that the Star would paint a large target on any surviving wearers, proof that they sided with the enemy." 

 

Below is a copyrighted illustration and some background information on this decoration from a 19 April, 2023 auction archived on the Noonans website (https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/lot-archive/results/450731/). This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Fine Collection of Medals Relating to Egypt and the Sudan 1801-1920 - the Property of a Gentleman.

 

 

DESCRIPTION

An extremely rare framed pair of General Gordon’s Stars awarded during the Siege of Khartoum 1884-85.

General Gordon’s Star for the Siege of Khartoum 1884, silver with traces of gilt, as awarded to officers of the rank Mulazem to Sagh
General Gordon’s Star for the Siege of Khartoum 1884, pewter, as awarded to non-commissioned officers and other ranks, this attached by thread to a blue cloth backing. 

Together with 10 Piastres Khartoum Siege Banknote, the three items, with ivorine labels, set in an old Spink, London, wooden, glass-fronted case, 245 x 170mm.; the back of case with a contemporary paper clipping referring to the ‘Gordon Memorial Fund’, medals very fine and very rare (3) 

 

PROVENANCE

 

From the collection of the late Felicité Ann Araminta, Lady Aldington (née MacMichael), Dix Noonan Webb, September 2012.

 

FOOTNOTE

From the collection of the late Felicité Ann Araminta, Lady Aldington (née MacMichael); the above probably given to her by her father, Sir Harold Alfred MacMichael, G.C.M.G., D.S.O. (1882-1969) who was heavily employed as a Colonial Administrator in Sudan. His first overseas posting in 1905 was with the Sudan Political Service, successively as Inspector of the Provinces of Kordofan, Blue Nile and Khartoum, and later he was a Political and Intelligence Officer with the Expeditionary Force which reoccupied Darfur in 1916; after which he was the Sub-Governor of Darfur Province. MacMichael was awarded the D.S.O. in 1917; awarded the C.M.G. in 1926 and received a knighthood with the award of the K.C.M.G. in 1932. During 1933-37 he was employed variously as Acting Governor-General, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Tanganyika Territory and during 1938-44 he was variously High Commissioner and Commissioner-in-Chief for Palestine and High Commissioner for Trans-Jordan. Awarded the G.C.M.G. in 1941.

The paper clipping reads: ‘Gordon Memorial Fund - Through the courtesy of the Egyptian Government, search was made to see if any of the notes issued by General Gordon during the siege of Khartoum had reached and been preserved in Cairo.
Some were found and the Prime Minister has presented them to the Governor-General, who intends disposing of them for the benefit of the Gordon Memorial Fund.

... Anyone who wishes to obtain possession of one or more of these notes should apply to the Secretary, Gordon Memorial Fund, at the Palace, Khartoum, or care of Sudan Government London Office ..."

 

Owain's post here of 17 April, 2008 notes several past sales of General Gordon’s Star for the Siege of Khartoum  decorations by Dix Noonan Webb. This page from the same above mentioned 19 April, 2023 auction archived on Noonans (https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/special-collections/1138/?&offset=40) also lists 5 other examples of Gordon's Star for the Siege of Khartoum. A 28 November, 2024 auction by Spink (Auction 24003, Orders, Decorations, and Medals) archives a listing of a silver-gilt Gordon's Star for the Siege of Khartoum, Lot 49 (https://spink.com/lot/24003000049). Spink Auction 170002, Lot 68 is a pewter example of this decoration (https://www.spink.com/lot/17002000068). 

 

A posting by the Royal Engineers Museum of 27 January, 2025 on Facebook shows one example of this decoration and states that several other examples are on display at the museum, (https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1169289188530122&set=in-1884-5-during-the-siege-of-khartoum-the-garrison-was-hemmed-in-and-morale-was. 

Edited February 24 by Rusty Greaves