France Legion of Honor-Officer

[Tim B]

Am I correct in that this is a 4th Republic era piece? It has a single star in place of 1870.

Tim

[TacHel]

Yes, 4th Republic is correct.

[Tim B]

Thank you for the confirmation!

Tim

[Bison]

Moreover, it is a very nice model, probably made by a private jeweller.

Very nice, thank you for sharing.

Regards

Bison

[Tim B]

Hello,

Yes, it appears to be a very nice luxury model. I do not own the piece, it's listed on an auction site, but the seller had it listed as WWI with some other items. I have sent him some information, but I don't think he cares to change it at this point. I just asked as I am still learning on the French and Belgian awards.

Many thanks again!

Tim

[Veteran]

Tim

To be quite acurate, this type was introduced on 29 Feb. 1951 when the date "1870" was removed fom the obverse medallion and replaced by a star. In 1951, the Fourth Republic had been established for several years (1948).

The same type was used in until November 28th 1962, when the reverse medallion receved the added date : "29 FLOREAL AN X" (April 29th 1802) which was the founding date of the Order.

The Fourth Republic became the Fifth Republic in 1958.

This type should probably be discribed as "late Fourth Republic / early Fifth Republic" or more acurately "1951-1962 type".

In this way the exact and very short period during which it was in use is properly described.

The previous "IIIrd Republic" type was used from September 1870 until February 1961, the longest ever, covering also the "Vichy Regime" and early IVrth Republic.

The present type has now been in use for nearly half a century.

Regards

Veteran

[Tim B]

Thank you for that! That information is good to know and I'm sure will help anyone trying to timeline different French pieces.

This is a very nice piece and I can see quality really went into making it, but I am "trying" to keep my collection to military and prior to the end of WWII. So tempting sometimes.

Cheers!

Tim

[Tim B]

Thought I would post a couple of PICS of one of my 3rd Republic Legion of Honors; this one is an Officer Class, not as nice as the luxury model I was asking about above, but still pretty nice IMO. Appears to be missing the parade bar.

Tim

[Tim B]

Gold center is a little brighter than the PICS show. Some minor enamel damage but overall still in pretty good shape.

[Tim B]

Reverse:

[Tim B]

I forget who the maker is but it has the diamond on the left suspension arm under the leaves and above the star and I need to confirm that the mark on the bottom (where the wreath ties together) is the "boar head"?

Thanks and enjoy! :cheers:

Edited May 5, 2009 by Tim B

[Veteran]

Hi Tim

The picture is a silver gilt badge of an officer of the Legion d'honneur. The hallmark at 6 o'clock is for silver. The diamond-shaped other halmark is the maker's (poin?on de ma?trise).

Nice piece, with just the few enamel chips due to effective wear. Congratulations

Veteran

[Tim B]

Hello Veteran!

Many thanks!! Yes, I was reading one of the old threads and I think it was Eric that mentioned the "boars head" that was signifying silver content, just wasn't sure if this was the same mark or not.

Concerning the makers mark, poin?on de ma?trise, was it common for their wares to show up in cases by Louis & Georges Aucoc of Paris? I ask as I have two Knights Class awards with the same diamond stamp and both cases, though slightly different, are from Aucoc.

Thanks again!

Tim

[Veteran]

Tim

ALL "poin?ons de ma?trise" when they appear on silver goods are diamond-shaped; the actual firm can be told from the minute letters and symbols which are incused into the diamond hallmark.

A large number of firms have, at one time or an other, manufactured Legion of honor badges. AUCOC used a vertical diamond with two AA (difficult to tell !) separated by an arrow-head under a coq and surmounting Cie. Very hard to see without a powerful jeweler's glass....and even with one !

Regards

Veteran

Edited May 8, 2009 by Veteran

[Tim B]

Veteran,

Many thanks and good to know. I'll have to loop these to see IF I can make anything out; you're right, they are really small marks and in the case of the Officer above, the diamond stamp is not that clear either.

Tim

[Tim B]

Well, thought I would bump this thread back up with a new addition. Finally picked up another very nice cased Officer's LoH. It's one of the so-called "luxury" examples with the laurel berries.

Tim

[Tim B]

I must say, these luxury pieces are the way to go. The enamel is fantastic and the red berries just make the whole piece "pop"!

Tim

[Tim B]

Okay, I see the Boar's Head and I know it's a boar and not an eagle as the piece is gilded silver and not 24k gold like some are. Still, the tiny purity mark is not easy to distingush and if turned around could be viewed as the eagle head gold mark if you didn't know better.

So, I thought I would add a couple of reference points for those that might need help or more information like I usually do.

Tim

[Tim B]

Here's the reverse maker's mark. Not 100% sure here but, I think it's a diamond with the letters AA or AR and something else that I can't quite make out. Anyone??? Is it the AA for Aucoc?

Tim

[Bison]

Nice model indeed, and relatively scarce in this condition.

For the mark, it looks like Adrien Chobillon, A X C... a pretty well known manufacturer, like Aucoc.

See THIS

Regards

Bison

[Tim B]

Hi Bison,

I'll have to loop it again, but the marks are so tiny and often not impressed the best it's sometimes hard to tell. If you turn it slightly one way or the other, it tends to look more like an AR' or maybe AA' but, I'll have another look.

Thanks for the comments!

Tim

[Tim B]

Hello again,

I don't know for sure. Looks like an AA' to me under the loop and again in this photo:

Tim

[Tim B]

With a flash...I could see where the "X" might be the second letter considering the diamond is not fully stamped and the letter could extend into the "unknown" here. That might explain the ' or lower half "C" that is also not fully stamped.

It is not identical to the stamp in the photo for AXC shown earlier, but they may have different stamps as well.

Anybody have a close-up of an actual stamp by these for comparison?

Tim

Edited May 28, 2010 by Tim B

[Tim B]

Nice model indeed, and relatively scarce in this condition.

For the mark, it looks like Adrien Chobillon, A X C... a pretty well known manufacturer, like Aucoc.

See THIS

Regards

Bison

Bison,

You could be correct here. Do you have any shots of this mark on any actual ODM? Thanks!

Tim

[Bison]

Hi Tim

With your last pictures, I am sure it is Chobillon.

Here are some shots of this mark on different orders of my collection:

This mark was used from 1905 to 1979, and the shop of Adrien Chobillon was in Paris, 21-22 Galerie de Montpensier, Palais Royal. The activities of Chobillon Company started circa 1840, but another mark was used before 1905.

Regards

Bison