Egypt Khedivate Judge's Badge question

[Elmar Lang]

Hello again,

 

I perfectly understand your words: in the past years, I've also been involved in the activities of archaeological excavation and the cataloguing/documentation of the excavations' results. My late wife (we met on the site of an excavation south of Rome) had a degree in Conservation/Restauration of archaeological artifacts... I think I perfectly understand your points and your observations.

 

Prof. Mericka once said (echoing the words of Oldrich Pilc) that phaleristic can be a branch of social siences and I agree: Orders and Decorations are not what we find in an excavation and they can tell us more than a piece of a broken vessel, but nonetheless, we try to put pieces, fragments, witnesses of the past together and try to understand their meaning, trying to accomplish a task that sometimes is far beyond our possibilities, but at least it's worth to try.

 

Understanding the past, through findings: on this subject, I would like to remember here, an exhibition held at the "Musée Romain" of Lausanne-Vidy (Switzerland), in 2002-2003: "Futur Antérieur", where the organizing committee, led by the then director, Dr. Laurent Flutsch, presented a rich series of pieces from our modern times (rubbish, mostly), broken cups, fragments of computers, buttons, etc., all artificially aged (in a very convincing way!) to look like being 1.000 or 2.000 years old: everything put in showcases with accurate descriptions explaining how archaeologists interpreted those artifacts. The exhibition, was accompanied by a very well made catalogue, where the very seriously and professionally written descriptions, were humourous or hilarious for us knowing what the artifacts on exhibit actually were.

 

In the truth, that exhibition, besides its success, was an invitation to think about the scientifical approach to the past.

 

Excuse me for the off-topic,

 

Enzo

Edited August 12 by Elmar Lang

[Rusty Greaves]

Hardly off-topic Enzo! Even orders & medals are material culture that have a behavioral background and individual histories that are part of the excitement of studying them. Hence the many researchers here on GMIC interested in photos, information from medal rolls, textual references, etc. 

 

Cheers, 🍻

 

Rusty

[Rusty Greaves]

I have found a photo of the Portuguese judge Alberto de Sousa (or Souza, but Portuguese sources favor "Sousa")-Larcher. I illustrated a gold and silver District Court badge attributed to him in my post on this thread of 15 July, 2024 

 

 

The above photo of Judge de Sousa-Larcher comes from a set of illustrations of past Presidents of the Mixed Court of Appeals in the 50th anniversary volume about the Mixed Courts (Les Juridictions Mixtes d'Égypte 1876-1926 Livre d'or Édité sous le Patronage du Conseil de l’Ordre des Avocats á l’Occasion du Cinquantenaire des Tribunaux de la Réforme, par le journal des Tribunaux Mixtes. Alexandrie, Egypte). This portrait is on page 38 of that anniversary publication. Judge de Sousa-Larcher wears what I think is a British OBE on the purple neck ribbon in use until 1937. He also wears the star of the Portuguese Military Order of Christ, Commander Class, and the  breast star of the 1st Class Grand Cordon Order of the Nile. He appears to be wearing a sash. However, his only 1st Class honor, the Order of the Nile, has a blue sash and yellow stripes that seems contrary to the light colored sash with dark stripes in this portrait image.

 

 

High-resolution image of the District Mixed Courts badge (silver and vermeil) attributed to Judge Alberto de Sousa-Larcher from a 9 July, 2021 auction (78), Lot 4, by the Portuguese auction house Leiloeira São Domingos (https://www.leiloeirasaodomingos.pt/lote/0/2015.78/0/0/0/0/4/0). The badge is stated to have a Froment-Meurice maker's name stamped on the reverse. The central tablet calligraphy is consistent with what I have termed Group 2. Judge de Sousa-Larcher served on the District Court of Mansourah from 1891-1896 when he was transferred to the District Court of Alexandria. He served on that Court until he was promoted to Conseiller (advisor) to the Appeals Court in 1902. He served as the President of the Appeals Court from 1916 until 1920, when he reached the mandatory retirement age for the Appeals Court. 

Edited September 13 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

The Mixed Courts badge below appears to be a fully gilt Appeals Court badge. there is very little information associated with the 2 photos of this badge.

 

 

Low-moderate-resolution image of the obverse of a badge that looks as though it is an Appeals Court badge. This comes from the Russian site Samler.ru, World Faleristics and Militaria - International Militaria Forums (https://sammler.ru/index.php?/topic/125130-арабский-орден-египет-знак-судьи/). This image was posted by Artemii on 28 February 2013 in a section identified as "Arab Countries". The person posting this had no information on the item. A commenter in 2014 eventually identified this as an Egyptian Mixed Courts badge. There is no information about the maker, however, the calligraphy on the central tablet matches Froment-Meurice Group 1. Although not a high resolution photo, the workmanship is consistent with Froment-Meurice badges. The tugra in the Order of Medjidie is oriented correctly, showing an ~30° clockwise rotation of the superior tuğ elements. These characteristics also are distinctive to Froment-Meurice pieces. The tugra on Rudolf Stobbe and Wolf Horowitz made badges are inverted. Those on Zivy Fréres & Cie are oriented correctly. While most other badges with known makers, and most of those whose manufacturers I am still trying to identify, all show the tugra in the correct orientation with a vertical position of the tuğs, most of the Froment-Meurice badges show the 30° clockwise tilt of the tuğ elements. The visible  stain dots on the far left of the left hemisphere on the central tablet, and a couple of additional small stains, are fairly distinctive and indicate I have not encountered a photo of this badge before. 

 

 

Moderate-resolution photo contributed by a commentator (nickstrenk, an active contributor here on GMIC) of 6 March 2013. Although this image is in the same post as the above one started by Artemii on 28 February, 2013, this is not the reverse of the above gilt badge. This image is probably originally from a past eMedals auction of the same badge, item W0248 (https://www.emedals.com/products/egypt-judicial-badge-w0248). Some of the eMedals photos of this badge also are archived on the MedalBook website (https://www.medalbook.com/middle-east/egypt/badges-insignia/judicial-badge/judicial-badge-in-silver-2), SKU: 04.EGY.0101.102.01. Both eMedals and MedalBook shows what appears to be a silver badge, although the brief descriptions on both websites suggests it is a gold and silver (District Courts) badge. The photo(s) of the reverse shows the same stains as seen on the image above. This particular unmarked badge is of superior workmanship, but was not made by Froment-Meurice. I previously illustrated this particular badge 2nd and 3rd-to-last photos in my post of 24 March, 2017; I discussed it in my my the post here of 6 September, 2021 with the 7th & 8th-to-last images in that post; and I discussed the reversed position of the tugra in the Order of Medjidie element on this badge under the 2nd-to-last photo of my post on 7 September, 2021. A higher-resolution photo of the obverse is archived on the Noonans Mayfair website from an 18 May, 2011 auction, Lot 503 (https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/lot-archive/results/199538/?keywords=Egypt&discipline=Medals&category=&date_on=18+May+2011&date_start=&date_end=&lot_no=503).

 

 

 

 

Edited September 12 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I came across images of a gold Appeals Court badge made by Wolf Horovitz on a Russian auction site, Znak https://www.znak-auction.ru/limg2.htm?c=d94820&n=1). The first four images below come from the 14 February, 2014 auction (25) by Znak, Lot 47. 

 

 

High-resolution image of the obverse of this Horovitz-made Appeals Court badge. 

 

The description identifies the maker as Horovitz, an image of the reverse shows the maker's mark, and an image of the badge in its case shows the W. Horvitz name on the inside of the upper lid. The description has some odd information about the assay hallmarks on the reverse, but gives the material correctly as gilt silver (vermeil), the size as 115 high x 86 mm, and weight as 189.50 g. The calligraphy of the central tablet does not match that seen on most other badge identified as being made by Horovitz (see the 14th-17th photos in my post of 6 September, 2022 on this thread). The calligraphy closely matches that seen on the Mahmoud Saïd badge (shown as the 23rd photo in my post of 6 September, 2022), possibly helping to identify his badge as potentially being made by Wolf Horovitz. Compare the calligraphy to the 5th photo below that is the central table of the Mahmoud Saïd badge. Horovitz-made badges seem to show the greatest amount of variability among the few internet images I have found, compared with other makers of these badges. It is unclear in the above photo whether the oak and laurel branches are gilt (see the 3rd photo below in this post where those branches appear to be silver). When enlarged, it is visible that the tugra in the Order of Medjidie element is upside down, as seen on all other Horovitz and Rudolf Stobbe Mixed Courts badges. 

 

 

Moderately-high resolution image of the reverse of this Wolf Horovitz Appeals Court badge. The name "HOROVITZ" is clearly stamped above the 2 rivets. The 3 Egyptian silver hallmarks are struck upside down compared with the correct orientation of the badge. They show a mark for 900 silver (I can't tell if the first mark indicates the Cairo or Alexandria assay office), the cat mask for Egyptian-made silver, and what appears to be a date hallmark of "M"=1937-1938. I don't know if the Arabic characters suggest this badge may have belonged to an Egyptian judge of the Appeals Court. The Znak description claims that this Mixed Courts  badge belonged to M. Puech, along with another medal in the auction, Lot 47 that is one of the French commemorative Justice Medals, using an obverse design by A. Borrel and a wreath on the reverse designed by H. Dubois. The obverse design has been used for a variety of justice medals since ~ the mid 19th century to at least the early 21st century. Lot 47 is inscribed on the reverse with "TRIBUNAL DE LA SEINE, M. PUECH · VICE PRÉSIDENT". There is no date on that commemorative medal (some issues do have dates, usually on the reverse). I have not found a second example of the M. Puech medal. I have not found an online biography of M. Puech. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Puech) identifies Louis Puech (1851-1947) as a lawyer who held government positions  and was a conseiller municipal for Paris 1893-1898 and a député for the Seine from 1989-1932. André Puech (1885-1960) was an avocat á la Cour of the 3e arrondissement de Paris from 1921-1944. No M. Puech is listed in the the 50th anniversary volume about the Mixed Courts (Les Juridictions Mixtes d'Égypte 1876-1926 Livre d'or Édité sous le Patronage du Conseil de l’Ordre des Avocats á l’Occasion du Cinquantenaire des Tribunaux de la Réforme). That only means he had not served on the Appeals Court prior to January-February 1926 when that anniversary volume was published. I do not find his name in other publications postdating 1926 and that were written after the closing of the Mixed Courts on 14 October, 1949. I cannot evaluate whether M. Puech may have been a member of the Mixed Courts and would have been the owner of this badge. The "M" on the reverse of the judical commemorative medal may stand for Monsieur rather than a first name. Another Wikipedia article (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_conseillers_généraux_de_la_Seine) identifies Louis Puech as the  Président du Conseil général de la Seine (1918-1919) and Président du Conseil municipal de Paris (1922-1923 & 1940). It also provides slightly different dates for his birth and death (1859-1945, and gives his initial appointment as 1908). The appointment dates for Louis Puech to other positions seem to preclude any potential role on the Egyptian Mixed Courts. Puech (André or Louis) might have owned this badge as a collector's item, but he probably was not a judge on the Mixed Tribunals. 

 

 

High-resolution photo of this same Appeals Court badge resting in the medal bed of its case. In this image, the oak and laurel branches appear to be silver with no vermeil. The inscription on the inside of the upper lid identifies the address of Wolf Horovitz's shop: "W. Horovitz, 26 Rue Chérif Pasha, Alexandrie". The case is in very good condition. 

 

 

High-resolution image of the closed case showing the outside of the upper lid.

 

                               

 

Above is the cropped image of the central tablet of the badge belonging to the Mahmoud Saïd badge (shown as the 23rd phot in my post of 6 September, 2022). The original image came from from the appendix to an art volume publication on Mahmoud Saïd’s paintings (Didier Hess, Valérie & Hussam Rashwan (eds.), 2016. Mahmoud Saïd: Catalogue Raisonné Volume 2. Drawings. Skira Editore, S.p.A., Milano. [distributed in the USA, Canada, & South America by Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. New York; distributed elsewhere by Thames & Hudson Ltd. London]. Plate A 177, pg. 865 [incorrectly identified as a “Medal of Justice”]. ©2016 Valérie Didier Hess; ©2016 Dr. Hussam Rashwan; ©2016 Mahmoud Saïd Estate; ©2016 Skira editore). The calligraphy is similar, but not identical, to that on the District Court badge made by Horovitz that I illustrated as the 1st photo in my post of 27 May, 2022 and in the 1st-3rd photos and the 5th photo (cropped view of the central tablet and the upside down tugra in my post of 17 June, 2022 on this thread that came from  the Facebook page of Hamdy Charmy Photography (https://www.facebook.com/H.Charmyphotography/photos/pb.100063747398706.-2207520000../1694086190745364/?type=3). As noted, this may suggest that the Mahmoud Saïd badge may have been made by Horovitz, reducing the number of unidentified makers of these badges to 4. 

 

                                   

 

Cropped image of the calligraphy on the central tablet and the incorrectly oriented tugra in the Order of Medjidie design element of Hamdy Charmy's Horovitz-made District Courts badge. This is the 5th photo from my post of 17 June, 2022 on this thread. The Hamdy Charmy badge is shown in a case similar to the Znak example with Horovitz's same and address on the interior of the upper lid. 

 

                                              

 

The calligraphy on the Znak example also is similar to that on the Horovitz District Court badge illustrated as the first image in my post of 10 August, 2024 on this thread. That photo, shown above, is from an Arabic language Facebook site, titled the "Egypt Historical Guide" (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=658578132962867&set=a.702389416471411.1073742467.233719140005110). The original photo is of low-quality, so it is not simple to compare with the Znak badge. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

 

Above is a low-resolution image of silver and gold District Courts badge from a 23 October, 2022 post on an Arabic language Facebook page called "Heart Eyes" ("عيون القلب"): https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=633430158475027&set=a.633430128475030. The same images also was uploaded to this Facebook page on 18 December, 2016 (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=784999381641169&set=pb.100054241460188.-2207520000). There is no information associated with this image. The cropping on Facebook cut off some of the inferior embellishment and the crescent and star on the superior portion of the crown and some of the superior embellishment. The calligraphy is most similar to what I have called Froment-Meurice Group 2 (see the 5th-9th photos in my post of 6 September, 2021 on this thread). 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 00:01 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

 

I have finally located a photo of one of the American Judges on the Mixed Courts with one of the most interesting names in U.S. politics, Somerville Pinkney Tuck (24 Sept, 1848-14 April, 1923), along with his flamboyant mustaches, wearing his judicial regalia. The above undated photo comes from an Ancestry.com contribution by his descendants (https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/90902621/person/75019188623/media/9e740009-065b-4782-a2b2-0750268cf3e5?galleryindex=2&sort=-created). Somerville Pinkney Tuck was nominated by U.S. President Grover Cleveland to the Mixed Courts and named to the District Court of Mansourah on 6 May, 1894. He was transferred to the District Court in Cairo on 2 December, 1897. The Khedive (Abbas Hilmi II) made him a delegate to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, 28-30 September, 1904. He was promoted to Conseiller (Legal Advisor) to the Appeals Court on 9 November, 1908. While still serving on the Appeals Court, h was was made a Member of the International Commission who planned reforms to the Mixed Courts for the anticipated end of Capitulations. On November 11, 1911, Tuck was assigned to the Legislative Assembly created by Khedivial decree within the Mixed Courts to resolve issues that Lord Cromer's proposed reforms failed to effect in the wake of his retirement. Tuck retired from the Courts on 31 October, 1920 after reaching the mandatory retirement age for the Appeals Court (he was 72). Jasper Yeates Brinton (1930, The Mixed Courts of Egypt, Yale University Press, New Haven, pg. 86) states that the retirement age for judges in the Appeals Court was 70 and 65 for judges on the District Courts. In this above image of Tuck's Olympic-class slouching capability, he wears the black stambouline coat, maroon tarboosh, and red sash (of the District Courts). His badge in this photo would have been the gold and silver version of the District Courts' judges. The medals he is wearing on his stambouline are, from the center of his chest running L-R in the viewer's perspective: the Insignia of the Society of the Cincinnati; the 4th Class Officer of the French Legion of Honor (awarded in 1889) and the 2nd Class Officer of the French Order of Academic Palms. This photo must have been taken between the 1889 award to Tuck of the 4th Class Legion of Honor and the 1900 award of the 3rd Class Commander of the Legion of Honor. The 50th anniversary volume about the Mixed Courts (Les Juridictions Mixtes d'Égypte 1876-1926 Livre d'or Édité sous le Patronage du Conseil de l’Ordre des Avocats á l’Occasion du Cinquantenaire des Tribunaux de la Réforme) state he was awarded the 2nd Class Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile (Appendix 1, pg IV). His grave cover in the Menton Castle Cemetery in France (the Cimetière du Vieux Chateau, Menton, Departement des Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) only lists his honors as a "Member of the Society of the Cincinnati" and Comandeur de la Legion d'Honneur. 

 

 

Above is an example of one of the variants of the Insignia of The Society of the Cincinnati, from a Find a Grave listing for Dr. Thomas Earle Van Metre Jr. (1936-1996) buried in Rhode Island (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153080846/thomas-earle-van_metre). The Society of the Cincinnati is the oldest patriotic organization in the United States, founded on 13 May, 1783 by officers of the Continental Army who had served in the Revolutionary War. (https://www.societyofthecincinnati.org). Also see the GMIC thread "Insignia of the society of the Cincinnati", started by g_deploige on 31 January, 2007 in the "United States of America" section under the "Rest of the World: Medals & Militaria" heading. There are several variants of the medals' designs through time. Additional images and descriptions of this award are available on The Society of the Cincinnati website: https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/discover-the-collections/society-of-the-cincinnati-eagles/; https://www.societyofthecincinnati.org/the-society-of-the-cincinnati-eagle/; and at https://americanrevolutioninstitute.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/711D7192-BBDC-4CF6-98EA-845427852144. 

 

 

Above is the most well-know and commonly reproduced image of Judge Somerville Pinkney Tuck. It comes from: Harrison, Thomas Skelton, 1917. The Homely Diary of a Diplomat in the East, 1897-1899. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. This portrait is between pp. 44 and 45. It also is archived on Wikimedia (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Judge+Somerville+Pinkney+Tuck+(1848-1923)&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image) and Picryl (https://picryl.com/media/judge-somerville-pinkney-tuck-1848-1923-d6ebce). Tuck was considered an important and well-respected lawyer and jurist in his day. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Rusty Greaves