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 October 31 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 October 29 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 October 31 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

A gold & silver District Court badge made by Froment-Meurice was auctioned on 30 October, 2024 by Kodner Galleries of Florida (Auction 313), and the auction is archived on the Bidsquare website (https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/kodner/emile-froment-meurice-french-1837-1913-6756539). This listing is only remarkable because it includes some good close-up photographs of parts of the badge and especially as it shows that the Order of Medjidie element near the inferior margin of the badge was a separate element of the badge construction.  

 

 

Moderately high-resolution photo of the obverse of the Kodner Galleries Mixed Courts badge on a plastic display stand. Note the vermeil of the embellishment, the fringe and embroidery on the mantle, parts of the crown, the cords and tassels of the upper corners of the mantle, the star above the central tablet, the 2 tugs, the oak and laurel branches, and the wreath around the Order of Medjiidie. The missing tugra within the Order of Medjidie is obvious, and the hole indicates that, at least on Froment-Meurice badges, this was a separate construction element. I did not know this before. Additionally, there is damage to some of the enamel on several parts of the inscription. The auction description identifies the height as 4-1/2 inches  (114.3 mm) x 3-3/8 inches wide (85.7 mm) and its weight as approximately 146.33 g. 

 

 

Additional high-resolution image of the obverse of this same badge (the staining on the central tablet is identical to the photo above). I do not know why the badge appears all-silver and none of the gilt is apparent. There is some color in this image, and it is the same badges (note some reddish coloration also matches, especially apparent around the star, surrounding the superior elements on the 2 tugs, and on a part of an embellishment ray framed by the tassel cord loop on the upper left side of the mantle), but I do not know what color manipulation may have been done so that the gold is not visible. This photo shows the attachment hole for the Order of Medjidie element better than in the previous image. 

 

 

High-resolution image of the central tablet inscription. The calligraphy most closely matches that which I have called Froment-Meurice Group 2 (see the 4th-9th images in my post of 6 September, 2021 on this thread). Damage causing loss of some areas of  the enamel can be readily seen in this photo. 

 

 

Above is a high-resolution image of the superior crown element of this badge. 

 

 

The above high-resolution image shows the upper left of the badge, detailing the tassels and tie of that corner of the mantle and the left side of the central tablet. 

 

 

Reverse of the Kodner badge showing the "FROMENT-*EURICE" name. The description states that a maker's hallmark also is present on the reverse. However, no description nor photo are included. Presumably, this hallmark should be the "Froment-Meurice" name in a diamond with a rose between the two names (see the 3 photos in my post of 25 May, 2021 on this thread). 

 

 

Edited November 5 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Although I am not a collector, I have tremendously enjoyed and benefited from the interactions with more knowledgable colleagues here on GMIC. Because of the fun I've had researching the Mixed Courts badges, I did buy a Mixed Court badge this past spring (see my 2nd post of 26 March, 2024 on this thread). Despite my research and interest, the Crabitès badge will stay with another part of my wife's family, so I did want a material example of this beautiful badge I have spent so much time investigating. I also am posting here a better quality image of this badge than the one I included as the 8th photo in that 26 March post, and an image of the framing of it that I recently had done. 

 

 

The framed Froment-Meurice District Court badge marked with the makers' hallmark "FROMENT-MEURICE" on the reverse of the badge and the interior case lid, also imarked with the Froment-Meurice name and shop address. I bought that Mixed Courts badge. It is marked on the reverse with a piece of paper marked "F.R." and the outer case upper lid also is marked "F.R.". The only judge I was able to match with the "F.R." initials was the Spanish Judge Frédéric Rauret y Sugastres. He was also commonly known to go by Frédéric Rauret, and I provided detailed information on his appointment to the Egyptian Mixed Courts in that post of 26 March. There is a cabinet card portrait of Judge Rauret y Sugastres in my 26 March post (the 4th photo) that came from an archive in the the New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections in Albany, NY, USA of an American judge on the Mixed Courts, George Sherman Batcheller (shown in my post of 24 June, 2024 on this thread). Judge Rauret y Sugastres was originally appointed to the Mixed Courts in 1892 (to Mansourah) and to Alexandria (in 1897). He retired from the Courts for health reasons in 1904.  As noted in that previous post, Judge Rauret y Sugastres served during the period when Froment-Meurice made badges were readily available (1875-1907, the date of his retirement or possibly until his death in the collapse of his mansion in 1913). The listings I consult on judges and other staff on the Mixed Courts was published in the 50th anniversary volume about the Mixed Courts in 1926 (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), so it should represent a complete roster of individuals who may have obtained a Froment-Meurice badge from the maker. How many such badges were available after Froment-Meurice's retirement and subsequent untimely death are unknown. Unlike Egyptian Royal Orders, there does not appear to have been any rule requiring retiring judges to return their Court insignia when they left their positions. I am looking at some of the Egyptian-made badges where auction photos of the reverse provide images of sufficient resolution to read the Cairo assay dates and try to get a ballpark idea of when they were made (and possibly whether any decreased availability of the Parisian-made Froment-Meurice badges spurred some of the Egyptian-based ateliers production of these badges). However, there are not many such photographs, and not all are high-enough-resolution, so I only have a small sample of the date hallmarks for non-Froment-Meurice made badges.

 

 

Above is a higher-resolution picture of this Judge Frédéric Rauret y Sugastres' District Courts badge than the one I posted in that 26 March, 2024 post. The photo appears to show a prominent scratch on the middle right off the central calligraphic tablet, between the 4th and 5th alif vertical strokes from the right. However, this is a consequence of one of the very fine scratches from normal wear that picked up by the low late afternoon light when I had my tripod set up, it is not a prominent feature of the minimal wear on this badge. I am happy to have such a beautiful example that is associated with its case and the pretty secure attribution to a particular Mixed Courts judge. I want to thank the many generous contributors to this thread for your help and guidance as I staggered onto some wobbly sea legs stumbling along into some phaleristics fun, and for the gentle prods not to be afraid of collecting and the additional material burdens through life it entails. 

 

Edited November 14 by Rusty Greaves

[oamotme]

Rusty,

 

Your research into the Courts Badge - its variations, manufacturers and recipients is admirable and to be applauded. Some may regard the badge as a niche topic but much of what is posted on GMIC is niche. The sharing of your research and indeed elsewhere on GMIC by other enthusiasts and their topics provides an invaluable service not only to us as collectors but to all who have an interest in history of how people have been recognised for their service and how their roles are designated or marked.

 

As I have noted before your should publish an illustrated book on the topic.

 

Thank you for your research and importantly for sharing it with us all.

 

Owain 

[ChrisW]

Rusty, 

I want to echo Owain’s comments. Your work here exemplifies the best aspects of enthusiasm, passion, expertise, deep research, and sharing. It lies at the intersection of numerous fascinating topics ranging from family history, colonial history, legal history, and Egyptian history. It does need to be a book, website, or something.

Many thanks for all you do,

Chris 

[Rusty Greaves]

I have been looking at portraits of Danish judges on the Egyptian Mixed Courts over the last week. I found another cabinet card image of Judge Carl Valdemar Kraft in his Court regalia by Studio Reiser of Alexandria that was probably made at the same time as the other Reiser cabinet card of Kraft that I included as the 2nd image in my post of 5 March, 2019 (and the 12th image in my post of 18 April, 2019).

 

 

The above cabinet portrait is curated in the image collection of the Royal Danish Library (Det Kongelige Bibliotek). From: http://www5.kb.dk/images/billed/2010/okt/billeder/object463029/en/. The ID for this photo is: DP019031.tif; and the Shelf Number (call number) for it is: Image Collection. Danish Portrait, 8°, Kraft, Carl Valdemar (1849-1924), in Danish: Billedsamlingen. Danske portrætter, 8°, Kraft, C. (1849-1924). This photo is free of any copyright. The same portrait also is included with a listing of Carl Valdemar Kraft on the genealogical site Geni (https://www.geni.com/people/Carl-Valdemar-Kraft/6000000014936894273). The Royal Danish Library estimates this portrait was created between ~1840 and 1898 (1898 is the death date of the Romanian photographer Andreas D. Reiser, although his son Lucien and a partner, Anton Binder, continued to run the studio in Alexandria until 1914). Reiser opened his photographic studio in Alexandria in 1894. Carl V. Kraft was first appointed to the Mixed Court of Mansourah in 1896 and he was transferred to Cairo in 1901. He served as Vice-Presidebnt of the Cairo District Court in 1908-1912 and again from 1914-1916. He was the President of the Cairo Court from 1916-1920. He retired from the Courts in 1920, having reached the mandatory retirement age (70). A resolution in 1902 reserved him a role as an assessor extraordinaire on the Danish Supreme Court. However, Judge Kraft did not fill this position upon his retirement and died in Egypt. This photo is likely to have been taken early in Judge Kraft's career with the Mixed Courts, so a more refined and realistic ballpark set of dates is ~1896-1870. As noted, I also posted another cabinet card portrait of Judge Kraft in his judicial regalia as the as the 2nd image in my post of 5 March, 2019 and as the 3rd-to-last image (12th) in my post of 18 April, 2019 on this thread (and shown again below). That Reiser portrait likely comes from the same sitting as the first image above in today’s post. Although there are a few differences in the appearance of the collar area of the stambouline coat between the above and below Reiser Studio images, the one below is from a slightly angled perspective from Kraft's left side and may mask the open coat collar and horizontal fastener seen in the above image. The folds in the sash appear to be identical in both portraits. His tarboosh is cocked to Kraft's right ear in both photos. Judge Kraft also appears to be the same age in both studio images. In my 18 April, 2019 post here, the 2nd-to-last photo (13th) is a portrait of Kraft from 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, Février 1926), identifying him as the President of the Cairo Court in his last 4 years, 1916-1920. The anniversary volume consistently spells his name incorrectly as "Karl Valdemar Kraft". That Presidential portrait shows Kraft with grey head and facial hair (a mustache & “soul patch” in modern post-jazz parlance, probably formerly known as a form of “imperial”, but now termed in the US as either a “walrus with soul patch” or, with a more luxurious soul patch growth, the “Zappa beard”). The last image in the 18 April, 2019 post (14th photo) also is from the 50th anniversary volume showing Kraft with the other judges on the Cairo District Court in 1909. Kraft also has a grey mustache in this earlier 1909 group portrait. This same portrait shown above also is used on the Geni genealogical site entry for Carl Valdemar Kraft (https://www.geni.com/people/Carl-Valdemar-Kraft/6000000014936894273). 

 

 

Above is the other Reiser Studio cabinet card portrait of Judge Carl Valdemar Kraft (noted as previously posted here on this GMIC thread in my posts of 5 March, 2019 and 18 April, 2019). As noted above, this image was probably taken at the same time as the first cabinet card image in this post from the Royal Danish Library. Thie above portrait shows details of the full sash and decorative bow of his judicial costumer quite well and illustrates the other regalia clearly: the maroon tarboosh, black stambouline coat, red sash with a gold metallic thread border and fringe, and the gold and silver Mixed Courts' badge. I found this cabinet card inside of a copy of the posthumous autobiography of the Norwegian Judge Michael Hansson, 1946, Egypt: 25 år I Egypt (25 Years in Egypt). Forlagt Av. H. Aschehoug & Co., (W. Nygaard), Oslo. I have posted often on this thread about this illustrious member of the Egyptian Mixed Courts. This copy of Hansson's autobiography was apparently owned by Carl V. Kraft's brother (Rudolph Kraft) whose name is inscribed on the front endpaper, and is dated to April, 1948). All of the edges of this cabinet card are gilt. Although the 1926 50th anniversary volume Les Juridictions Mixtes d'Égypte 1876-1926: spelled Kraft's first name "Karl", other sources, including his own brother's writing on the reverse of this cabinet card, spell his given name "Carl". 

 

 

Reverse of the same Reiser cabinet card portrait found inside the Hansson autobiography owned by Rudolph Kraft. I have not previously illustrated the reverse of this cabinet card here on GMIC. On the middle-lower-left is Rudolph Kraft's notation of his brother's name and life dates (born 30 May, 1849-died 3 December, 1924). I am uncertain what the dated notation at the top is (from 25 December, 1996/1896?). At the far upper right it appears that "Rud Kraft·" is written, probably meaning Rudolph Kraft. This handwriting on the reverse of this cabinet card matches Rudolph Kraft's inscription in the 1946 Hansson volume I have. Carl Valdemar Kraft apparently never married (several censuses identify him as single) and had no children I can identify. He had five sisters but only two brothers who could have contributed the Kraft name to descendants (https://www.myheritage.com/research?formId=master&useTranslation=1&exactSearch=0&action=query&qname=Name+fn.%2F3Frederik%2F3Wilhelm%2F3+ln.Kraft&qevents-event1=Event+et.any+ep.Copenhagen&qevents=List). Information on Rudolph Kraft is slim. he may have been born in 1846 or 1847, but I cannot identify any independent information on his death date. It does appear that he inscribed the Hansson book in April 1948. Judge Kraft's other brother, Frederic Wilhelm Kraft (1840-1881), had two sons, neither named Rudolph (Carl Adolf Kraft [1876-1976] and Frederic Wilhelm Kraft [1879-1962]: https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-1-446760481-9-500893/frederik-wilhelm-kraft-in-myheritage-family-trees). Was this a Christmas gift to a descendant either named Rudolph or just another member of the Kraft family? It is tough to access names & dates of Frederic Kraft's grandchildren, as these mostly derive from pay-firewall genealogy websites. Does the inscription (if 1996) identify that the cabinet card portrait was from Rudolph Kraft and was being passed along (later?) to another member of the family in 1996? All of the black ink lettering in the upper right half closely resembles the Rudolph Kraft inscription in the 1946 Hansson book and the other writing bracketing Judge Krafts birth and death. Only a few components of the the handwriting of numbers are slightly different on this date that may be 1996. First, the flourished form of the "9" in "96" is not seen in Judge Kraft's death year "1924" (and in the book inscription of "1948·"); second, the way the slash between month number and year ("25/12. 96 .") is diagonal on this date is potentially different from the more horizontal line situating the day above the month followed by the fully written out year (in both the lifespan dates of Judge Kraft on the reverse of this card and in the Hansson book inscription). There are only a couple other "1"s and "2"s to compare. None of the "2"s in the 25/12. 96 ." show the full embellishments at each termination as seen in the "12/3 1924" death date for Judge Kraft. The "2" in "25" has a single added line at the termination of the "2" on the left. The "2" in "12." has only one line possibly added at the initiation of the "2". The "."s after dates and the "Kraft·" name also is present in the Hansson book inscription "Rudolph Kraft· 4 [over] 1948·"

 

 

Above is a photo of the Cairo District Court in 1909. This is from the 50th anniversary volume Les Juridictions Mixtes d'Égypte 1876-1926, on pg. 189. Carl Valdemar Kraft is seated in the front row, 2nd-from-the-viewer's left. The other judges are listed in the caption under the photo in my post of 18 April, 2019. I included this group photo as the 14th image (last) in my post of 18 April, 2019 on this thread.  

 

 

The above photo is from a section of the 50th anniversary volume celebrating the Mixed Courts (Les Juridictions Mixtes d'Égypte 1876-1926) on pg. 48 in a section illustrating all of the past Presidents of the District Courts up through February, 1926 when that volume was published. The dates of Judge Kraft's service as President of the Cairo Court are identified (1916-1920) and note the incorrect spelling of his first name as "Karl", repeated in other listings of Kraft in this book. It is most likely that this portrait photo was taken during Kraft's tenure as President of this Court, probably early in that role as the Courts documented their history. Again, I previously used this as the 13th image of my post of 18 April, 2019 (2nd-to-last). 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 04:45 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

 

Above is an uncropped and higher-resolution image of a Froment-Meurice gold and silver Mixed District Courts badge than the slightly cropped and lower resolution photo of the same badge that I included in my post of 28 October, 2024 on this thread. This comes from 12 November post on a Facebook page of Armut Mezat (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=545850388412846&set=g.1160182087369052). This image can be zoomed for some additional details. This higher-resolution photo does shows the tugra in the Order of Medjidie element is in the correct orientation, rotated just slightly to the right. This helps confirm the indications that this is a Frement-Meurice-made badge. No additional information or photos are provided on this Facebook post.