Lady with an unknown order

[Freiwillige]

CDV of a lady made in the photoatelier of Vienna, end of XIX century.

Any ideas what award she wears?

[Freiwillige]

Mysterious award.

[Paul R]

Can anyone ID this one?

[Robin Lumsden]

Looks like a Royal House Order.

Similar to these .......................

http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/RoyalFamilyOrders.aspx

[Freiwillige]

Many thanks for your response, Robin!

As for an order, it should be an Austro-Hungarian one, am I right? Any ideas which order was it?

[Igor Ostapenko]

Serbian ...

[Freiwillige]

Thanks, Igor! Could youplease let me know which one exactly?

[922F]

An item related to Serbian King Milan? The central monogram appears to be "M".

While somewhat similar to designs of the Serbian so-called Order or Decoration of Queen Draga and replacement Order or Decoration of Queen Natalie, among other format differences, neither of these have a 'garter-style [with buckle]' motto ring. However, there may be a small coat of arms device at the lower wreath junction similar to those of the two Serbian awards mentioned above. These elements may offer identification clues.

[paul wood]

Doesn't look Serb to me, interestingly the monogtam seems to be surrounded by a Garter, could it be a British Lady in Waiting badge?

Paul

[Dragomir]

Gentlemen,

Whatever this might be, it is definitely not a Serbian decoration.

Dragomir

[LeoLinz]

With the horse in the middle, perhaps it's some kind of Ladie's Order from the Duchy of Brunswick or from the Kingdom of Hanover.

After the lost "German War" of 1866 (Hanover fought alongside with Austria and other German states against Prussia and his german allies),

the Kingdom was conquered and annected by the Kingdom of Prussia.

So the last King Georg V. and a lot of hanoveran nobles moved to Vienna and other austrian cities or their austrian manors.

Unfortunately this is not my concentration area.

Leo

[paul wood]

Both the Kings of Hanover and the Dukes of Brunswick were Knights of the Garter and both were incredibly proud of the award, the horse would suggest Brunswick.

Paul

[Freiwillige]

Thanks for your replies, gentlemen!

I still can't find an image of that mysterious decoration though I spent hours googling...

[Rogi]

It looks very similar to the Order of Natalie (my fav! ) If you compare the N in natalie it is the same style and font as this M order one here, the crown and basic outline is similar as well. It could be of a lesser class that it lacks the wreath, but who knows. Lots of principalities and countries shared designers if one liked someone else's styling

[LeoLinz]

Sorry, I really thought it is a horse in the middle!

I should clean my classes more often!

Rogi is right, it really looks very similar to the Order of Queen Natalja or the Order of Queen Draga.

Perhaps something out of the Balkans.

Leo

[Freiwillige]

Dear Leo and Rogi, thanks for following the thread!

I still doubt it could be one of those Serbian Queen orders as their design seems to be quite different from that worn by the unknown Lady from the portrait in question.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Freiwillige

[Rogi]

They have similarities, if you look at the Order of Natalie, this is a first class(I think ), courtesy of Radmilo

If you reduce the class to 2nd or 3rd the medal loses certain aspects of the design (ie the wreath isn't flamboyant etc I'll post a pic)

Heres the 2nd class, its from emedals, I wish I could afford to buy this one its pretty much tied for my fav. medal of all time

Again it depends if there using cyrillic script or not, but when you look at the first pic. The N is the same font as your M, it doesn't mean its a king's order, it could be a queen's or motherhood award, representing a female that was active in the motherhood organisations.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Rogi

[paul wood]

The surround is clearly a Garter, can any one see a buckle on the Natalie? if so I need to go to go specsavers because I'm blowed if I can.

Paul