Question about the Order of Ismail/Nishan al-Ismail

[Rusty Greaves]

Gentlemen, 

My wife's great grandfather was awarded the Order of Ismail/Nishan al-Ismail during his time in Egypt sitting as a judge on the Mixed Courts in Cairo from 1911-1936. He was awarded this honor in the Grand Officer class, probably at the termination of his judicial career on the District Courts. I have not found any reliable translation of the inscription on the central boss. Edward Haynes' International Electronic Phaleristic Encyclopedia suggests that it may simply be the name of the order, but that statement has multiple question marks and also indicates there might be an additional inscription. May I trouble someone with interest to help translate the inscription on this medal? The medal is currently in a glass mounting and I am not yet privileged to open that frame so my photos of his breast and neck stars contain too much reflection. I am attaching 2 images of the breast star from a past auction through the eMedals website. 

Many thanks,  Rusty 

Edited November 8, 2017 by Rusty Greaves
grammatical correction

[Egyptian Zogist]

The central inscription simply says ISMAIL "اسماعيل" in a very stylized calligraphic script. The order was named after Khedive Ismail I, also known as Ismail the Magnificent who ruled Egypt from 1863 to 1879 and is created with building a large portion of "modern" Cairo, as well as other modernization projects. He once famously stated "My country is no longer in Africa, but has become a piece of Europe".  

Edited November 13, 2017 by Egyptian Zogist

[Rusty Greaves]

Egyptian Zogist, Thank you for taking the time to translate and post this. As always, I am indebted to you for your help with my question and generous sharing of information! 

[Rusty Greaves]

Unlike the other items I have commented on here in GMIC, there is significant amount of information about the Order of Ismail. I have put together the following image groups based on research over the last year finding descriptions of the Order's regalia and trying to match them with images available primarily from auction sites, Picssr, and Flickr. I am still uncertain whether there were four classes or five (see discussion below). If there is a 5th class, I do not know what the breast badge looks like, if a breast badge is the correct insignia. 

The Order of Ismail (Nishan al-Ismail), created by Sultan Husain Kamil in 1915 to reward eminent services to the state. Revised by Royal Order 96 of 1922 and by Royal Order No. 48 of 1926.

Awarded in four (5? See below) classes (1. Grand Cordon - limited to thirty recipients, 2. Grand Officer - seventy five recipients, 3. Commander - one hundred and fifty recipients, and 4. Officer - three hundred recipients). There may be a 5^th class identified as Knight. The Order of Ismail became obsolete in 1954 (some sources suggest 1952?). All of the illustrations and information I have seen identify that the maker was J. Lattes, a businesses in Cairo (and Geneva) that was located near the European quarters in Cairo (likely French-trained or expatriates). This medal does occasionally turn up on auction sites.

Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of American (JOMSA) article : Vol 57 (4) 2006 Pg: 20: “This Order was instituted by Royal Decree 96 of 1922 and subsequently modified by Royal Decree 48 of 1926. It was named after Khedive Ismail (reigned 1863-1879), the great-great-grandfather of King Farouk. He was considered a great modernizer, and presided over a period of great advancement in Egypt, (Suez Canal opening, industrialization, military expansion into Sudan and East Africa, all fuelled by a boom in cotton prices brought about by the American Civil War), but he massively overstretched Egypt’s budget, was forced to sell Egypt’s shares in the Canal to Britain, and the British and French essentially took over the running of the country. This led to popular unrest, and the Ottoman Sultan dismissed Ismail and appointed his son Tewfiq as Khedive. The Order was awarded to those who rendered eminent services to the nation.”

First Class or Grand Cordon - breast star worn left side, sash and sash badge. Limited to 30 members, excluding royalty and foreign recipients

Order of Ismail, Grand Cordon breast star, obverse (https://www.emedals.com/africa/egypt/order-of-ismail-1915-w01271) JOMSA 2006 57 (4):20 description: Breast Star: A five-pointed blue enamelled star with ball finials superimposed upon a circular multi-rayed diamond faceted star. In the center of the star a circular wreath encompassing the Arabic name "Ismail." The star is 84mm in diameter.

Order of Ismail, Grand Cordon breast star, reverse showing Lattes maker mark (https://www.emedals.com/africa/egypt/order-of-ismail-1915-w01271)

Order of Ismail, Grand Cordon, sash and badge (https://www.emedals.com/africa/egypt/egypt-order-of-ismail-w0269)

Order of Ismail, Grand Cordon badge, obverse (https://www.emedals.com/africa/egypt/egypt-order-of-ismail-w0269). JOMSA 2006 57 (4):20 description: Badge: A five-pointed blue enamelled star with ball finials with the addition of a crown suspension affixed to the uppermost arm of the star. The badge is 62 mm excluding suspension and 62 mm x 82 mm including suspension. The dark blue sash is 100 mm in width with a 9 mm red edge stripe inset 2 mm from each edge.

Order of Ismail, Grand Cordon badge, reverse showing Lattes mark (https://www.emedals.com/africa/egypt/egypt-order-of-ismail-w0269)

 

Second Class or Grand Officer - breast star worn right side and neck badge. Limited to 75 members

Order of Ismail, Grand Officer neck badge (above) and breast badge (below). The neck ribbon is 37 mm in width and 5 mm stripes inset 1 mm from each badge. Otherwise the same dimensions, construction, and materials as the Grand Cordon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelisli/8844318688)

 

Third Class or Commander - neck badge. Limited to 150 members

  

Order of Ismail, Commander, neck badge (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelisli/3051549594)

 

Fourth Class or Officer - breast badge with ribbon rosette. Limited to 300 members. The JOMSA 2006 article identifies the Fourth Class as "Knight"

Order of Ismail, Officer, neck badge with rosette (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelisli/3052095308)

 

Fifth Class Knight - breast badge A fifth class is listed by Edward S. Haynes IEPE website as “Knight” (https://web.archive.org/web/20080801014835/http://faculty.winthrop.edu/haynese/medals/egypt.html). That site lists the five classes as: Grand Cordon; Grand Officer; Commander; Officer; and Knight, but no limit on membership is identified for the Knight Class. The JOMSA 2006 article only lists 4 classes: 1^st - Grand Cordon; 2^nd - Grand Officer, 3^rd - Commander; and 4^th- Knight, with the 4^th Class being identified as limited to 300 members. I have not found an image of the breast badge that is clearly identified as a Knight Class badge.

Presentation case lid exterior for Order of Ismail, unspecified class, 137 mm x 288 mm x 56 mm (https://www.emedals.com/africa/egypt/egypt-order-of-ismail-case-w0270)

Interior of lid of presentation case for Order of Ismail, unspecified class (https://www.emedals.com/africa/egypt/egypt-order-of-ismail-case-w0270)

Image of King Farouk I wearing the Order of Ismail (to the R of the Order of Mohammad Ali and above the Order of the Nile (https://www.flickr.com/photos/27031646@N08/2888072072)

Edited November 13, 2017 by Rusty Greaves
minor grammatical edit

[Egyptian Zogist]

Just a small correction, Khedive Ismail was King Farouk's grandfather, directly. His father Sultan (later King) Fouad was Khedive Ismail's seventh son. Fouad succeeded his brother Hussein Kamel as sultan in 1917.

[Rusty Greaves]

Egyptian Zogist, Thanks of that genealogical correction, the quoted JOMSA article also incorrectly identifies the origin of the Order of Ismail as  "instituted by Royal Decree 96 of 1922"  although it was established by Sultan Husain Kamil in 1915.

[Egyptian Zogist]

I just remembered that I have an issue of a bilingual Arabic-English magazine for modern Egyptian history enthusiasts that discussed the orders, decorations, and medals of the monarchy era. Here is the section on the order of Ismail, I apologize for the quality of the photos. 

The source given for the information is the "Royal Protocols, Abdine Palace, 1952". I'm not sure if the illustrations are from the Royal Protocols book or if they were from the manufacturer (Maison Bichay in Cairo). Let me know if you'd like to see the other decorations in the magazine, I'll try to take better quality photos of the pages. 

[Rusty Greaves]

Egyptian Zogist, Many thanks of this information! I am very interested in what you provided, and would like to see the other bilingual information. It does appear in what you illustrated that only 4 classes are identified for the Order of Ismail and the 4th class is Officer and not Knight. I would like to look at these more carefully to know if the insignia I have tried to illustrate are correct for each the four classes. As I mentioned, I have put these together from a range of sources and the attribution of each classes regalia is not entirely clear or consistent when presented as single items on auction sites or illustrations on some of the websites I have gotten them from for my research. I am not currently investigating other Kingdom period awards, although I have become interested in them because of the work trying to identify the Abbas Hilmi II commemorative medal, the Mixed Courts judges' badges, and the Order of Ismail regalia. As I mentioned, all of the Order of Ismail medals I have seen were made by Lattes. The circular the Jeweler's Circular mentions Egyptian jewelers in part II of an article by Chas Crossman begun on June 23, 1897 page 41, 44 that is continued on July 14, 1897 on pages 8-9 with a mention of the shop of J. Lattes at the margin of the foreigner’s quarter on pg 9. The article continues on another date, but I have not located those pages in the scanned version of this circular I found online from Google books. Crossman was visiting Egypt and making observations on local jewelers as well as other tourist topics. For the other items I've written about here on GMIC, the Abbas Himi II commemorative medal was made by Tewfick Bichay of Cairo, and the Mixed Courts' Judges badges were made by a number of different jewelers (Froment Meurice of Paris, Stobbe of Alexandria, and probably other Egyptian jewelers as well), and some genuine examples of those badges do not have any maker marks.  

neck badge of the Order of Ismail, Commander class, in presentation box with Lattes maker name inside lid

Lattes name inside presentation box, order not specified in original Picssr image

another versions of the Lattes name inside a presentation box, order not specified in original Picssr image

neck badge (above) and breast star (below) of the Order of Ismail, Grand Officer class, in presentation box for Dr. Giovanni Quirico, an Italian physician. The breast star in this example has apparently been taken apart and re-assembled with a rotation of the gold star in relation to the multi-rayed diamond faceted star below it, representing an incorrect final configuration of the breast star (https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/sites/default/files/Auction-image/2017-03/720-9.jpg)

Envelope for award document of Order of Ismail, 2nd Class, Grand Officer, to Dr. Giovanni Quirico (https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/sites/default/files/Auction-image/2017-03/720-9.jpg)

award document for the Order of Ismail, 2nd Class, Grand Officer, to Dr. Giovanni Quirico (https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/sites/default/files/Auction-image/2017-03/720-8.jpg)

Edited November 14, 2017 by Rusty Greaves
minor grammatical edit

[Rusty Greaves]

Egyptian Zogist,  I did just find an example of the Order of Ismail, 3rd class, Officer's badge that may have been made by Tewfick Bichay. The illustration shows this badge in a presentation box that has the name of Bichay inside the lid. I am surprised as there are many illustrations on auction sites showing the reverse of the breast and neck badges, and they all show the J. Lattes jewelers' hallmark. I have seen no unmarked badges nor any with marks other than Lattes. Of course, this badge could have been placed in a Bichay case, but perhaps some of them were made by Tefck Bichay in Cairo as well. 

I also am currently checking with a friend who is descendant from the Egyptian royal family regarding the variation in reported dates in different published sources for the origin of the Order of Ismail (1915 by Sultan Hussein Kamil or 1922 by King Fuad I). I also am checking when the Order of Ismail became obsolete as both 1952 and 1954 are reported in different sources. 

Order of Ismail, 3rd class, Officer, badge with rosette ribbon in presentation case. This example is the only I have seen that was made by Tewfick Bichay of Cairo, all other examples I have come across were made by Lattes of Paris (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dereenb/8059318294)

Edited November 16, 2017 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

A very lovely and apparently genuine complete set of the Grand Cordon of this award with sash, chest star, and badge (apparently with the presentation case) is currently listed on a Spink & Son auction as lot 28. https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10156/lot-3b07acb4-542f-4733-93a3-a83200b99892 The expected estimate for bids is ~2500-3000 GBP. It is mistakenly called the "Knight Grand Cross" on the auction listing.

One obvious fake identified as an Order of Ismail is also shown in this auction, lot 140 (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10156/lot-bd1c4e4c-7dc1-4560-a3c7-a83200ba36e7). This is clearly a recent and awkward attempt at presenting something with a few elements reminiscent of the star. However, the silver metal, lack of any enamel, a central "jewel" rather than enameled central boss with cipher, oversized crown, and the configuration of what is usually a neck star as a chest badge suspended on a ribbon is a very-ham-handed and ugly piece of junk.

Another lot, 267 (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10156/lot-bb1a7884-22e6-4504-97db-a83200bb0ca9), illustrates two alleged Order of Ismail medals that have highly problematic elements I think clearly identify them as false pieces. The star in this lot, also incorrectly suspended on a ribbon for the chest, has dramatic problems in its proportions (star too small & crown too large), and very poor workmanship shown in the enamel of the star's rays, no enamel coloring of the wreath around the central boss, a "gold" center with incorrect enamel distribution, an awkwardly rendered cipher, and no enamel colors on the crown, etc. The chest badge also exhibits significant design flaws. The star appears to be made of a silver metal rather than gold, the overall workmanship is quite poor, the central cipher lack details apparent in all genuine examples, the ball finials on each arm are flat and broad rather than more finely executed, the suspension for a ribbon (only used for the 4th Class Officer version-but with a rosette on the ribbon) lacks the Khedive crown, and the suspension ring also is made of silver, rather than gold.

Both lot 140 and 267 have very low anticipated prices, suggesting some awareness these are suspect pieces. 

Edited December 1, 2017 by Rusty Greaves
re-correction of auto spelling changes of original text

[Rusty Greaves]

In looking over images I have found, I came across an anomalous example with a maker's mark that is not J. Lattes. This is from an auction of November 24, 2012 that illustrates the reverse of both the neck star and chest badge for the Grand Officer class (2nd Class ) of this award. The description on the SIXBID/La Galerie Numismatique identifies the maker's mark on the reverse of both these medals as "St. Dionay" (SIXBID/La Galerie Numismatique adds a question mark regarding the name on this mark-not sure why). These are the only examples I have seen of what appear to be correctly designed examples of the Order of Ismail showing makers' marks that were not made by J. Lattes of Paris. The images is not of high resolution, but the form of the manufacture's mark is clearly not Lattes. The example of an Officer grade (4th Class-I inadvertently listed it as 3rd class in that post) chest badge on a ribbon with rosetteI illustrated on Nov 15, 2017 in a Tewfick Bichay case does not have any accompanying images of the reverse to show its maker's mark. Does anyone know this medal manufacturer and whether they would have made medals between ~1915-1952? Is this a probable recent copy? 

Images for set of Grand Officer Class (2nd Class) insignia for the Order of Ismail. These images from an auction of 24 November 2012 describe the maker's mark on the reverse of both these medals as "St. Dionay". SIXBID/La Galerie Numismatique adds a question mark regarding the name on this mark-not sure why. (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=515&category=11656&lot=539476) 

The image below is from the the modern medal manufacturer ELM in Singapore and suggests they either repair or may manufacture replicas of historic medals including the Order of Ismail.

image of Order of Ismail breast badge that may be a high quality modern reproduction shown on the "Gallery" portion of the website for ELM medallists in Singapore (http://elm.com.sg/fr/orders-decorations-medals/orders-decorations/)

[oamotme]

The Arabic mark is that of Tewfiq Bichay. Close examination will show a date mark. Bichay worked for Lattes and took over the business which his son Fahmy Tewfiq Bickay continued until the early 1970s whereupon he emigrated to Canada. I met him couple of times in the 1990's. A nice man with a large amount of records and documentation which, sadly, since his death has been lost. Bichay made Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Libyan, Saudi, Syrian and Yemeni awards.

Regards, Owain

[Rusty Greaves]

Owain, 

Many thanks for taking the time and looking at the maker's marks and providing that information about the relationship between Tewfiq Bichay and Lattes. I have recently been trying to tidy up some questions from my research on this, and you have helped tremendously. I have been looking at some of the overtly fraudulent miniatures for the Order of Ismail, and a couple of other problematic miniatures. One of the medal dept. staff at Spink & Son defended the listed miniatures I complained about in my Dec 1 post, writing that the design was a bit different than full sized pieces. The minis have some elements of the authentic pieces, but I am unaware of any miniatures that were part of the authentic awards. All have problematic workmanship. It's one thing if there were sold as inexpensive knockoffs (there is one eBay site that sells a cheap trinket they identify as made in 2015 and costs $26), but the high price on some of these really is vexing! I intend to show some of these false examples in the near future once I can take some time with the auction images. 

Gratefully, 

Rusty

Edited December 5, 2017 by Rusty Greaves

[oamotme]

Dear Rusty,

Many thanks - I am glad my information was of use. With regard to the miniatures at Spink I think that, perhaps, you are being too harsh. I have collected Arab miniatures for some 25 years and did bid on a number of lots (almost entirely without success), and I agree the prices attained are somewhat surreal and are not , well at least to my mind, sensible. However miniatures are not necessarily made by the principal manufacturers and thus in many instances only approximate to the full size issues. When miniatures accompany the full size presentation awards then there would be an element on conformity, but if bought as stand alone items from other out of country manufacturers the variations in design and quality can be and is vast. I do not believe any are fakes - they may be badly made, but there is not a market  - as far as I am aware in fake miniatures - there is not the demand to justify making them. My observation and concern with the 'pairs' offered would be that the 'breast star' only issues may have had badge suspensions  which have been removed (almost definitely) to allow the previous owner to display badge and star miniatures, whereas normally a miniature is always the badge of the order with a device upon the ribbon to indicate the grade of the order. Anyway my tuppence worth.......

Kind regards from Riyadh,

Owain

 

[Rusty Greaves]

Owain, 

As I always I am most grateful for your insights, I am not a collector but interested in finding out about these awards. Are miniatures (at least in the Arab world) worn with more everyday dress on different occasions than opportunities for sporting full insignia? I'd appreciate anything you have time to share on this. The illustration below shows one of a couple examples I have seen of miniatures that are most similar to the full-sized insignia. Some differences are apparent in the metals, level of detail on the rays of the enameled star, the central boss with the calligraphic ornamentation of "ISMAIL", as well as workmanship. This is similar to the illustration of one of the 2 badges on lot 267 of the Spink & Son auction I mentioned the other day, with some apparently unwarranted criticism.

 

miniature order of Ismail, 30 x 20 mm, identified as "Knight's Cross" which should probably be the Officers' breast badge, 4th Class. (https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/auction-33/order-ismail-1). This is the only form of the miniature I have seen with "accurate" details of the insignia

[922F]

Gentlemen,

Keep in mind that deposed/exiled King Ahmad Fuad of Egypt continues to award honors, including the Order of Ismail.  ELM certainly supplied samples and may have produced a 'run' of Ismail insignia destined for him.  Possibly, other present-day manufacturers do/did the same.  Several sources suggest that Ismail miniatures offered via evay have similar origins—items for purchase and use by those granted such honors, with the excess escaping onto the collector market.  That evay seller also supplies miniatures for other official and ‘royal exile’ decorations.  These include several Vatican and Italian State awards plus Imperial Russian Order full size and miniature insignia at least.  

Whether such pieces may be described as fakes, restrikes, genuine, or other representations of Ismail Order insignia appears up to the observer.

Rusty, Owain’s miniature insignia design/execution simplification comments seem on point.  The use of miniatures in Egypt conformed with usual [generally European] standards.  Most often, miniatures would be/are worn at ‘black tie’ occasions as well as special celebratory events.  Lapel devices signifying the award would usually be worn for every day attire if used at all. 

[oamotme]

Gentlemen,

With regard to Arabic miniatures I would refer you to the new topic I have just started.

Kind regards,

Owain

[Rusty Greaves]

Many thanks to 922F and Owain for your information about miniatures. I am quite grateful for 922F's statement about ELM, I had heard that the Order of Ismail was occasionally still being awarded in exile (although the government's sponsorship of the Order ended in 1952 after the Revolution). In response I would like to attach images of all the miniatures I have run across in the last few months. Some are faithful to the award's design, others much less so. I am very interested in comments by the interested and knowledgable GMIC members on these forms of miniatures. 

Probable authentic miniatures of the Order of Ismail, Class unknown. This resembles the miniature badge I illustrated above on 5 December. I have seen a photo of one other such badge that is part of a private collection. I have never seen other images of the star before. Star with crown = 20 mm; badge = 13 mm x 22mm, Material identified as silver gilt and enamel. No manufacturer identified. Lot 267 of Spink & Son auction of 4 December, 2017. Manufacturer unknown. (ttps://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10156/lot-bb1a7884-22e6-4504-97db-a83200bb0ca9)

Alleged miniature of the Order of Ismail. Extremely incorrect configuration. Identified as silver-gilt, stamped, with cabochon in center (instead of enameled boss bearing the inscription "ISMAIL"). The reverse is stamped with the silver grades as "925". 25 mm including the crown suspension X 16 mm. No manufacturer identified. Lot 140 of an auction by Spink & Son, 4 December, 2017. (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10156/lot-bd1c4e4c-7dc1-4560-a3c7-a83200ba36e7)

Alleged miniature star (although not described as such on the website) identified as the 3rd Class Commander of the Order of Ismail. There are several differences in the design of this star compared with full sized authentic pieces. No dimensions provided, no information on any maker's mark, ribbon is identified as "original". This image is from a website that has these medals "in stock" and is pricing them at 1,500€ (https://www.falera-et-orbis.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=345)

Inexpensive alleged miniature of the Order of Ismail available on eBay. Materials identified as copper, brass, gilt. size not identified, date of manufacture is 2015. No markings on the reverse. Price range identified between $22-$26, from Ukraine. (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Miniature-for-Order-of-Ismail-Kingdom-of-Egypt/302536806062?hash=item4670994eae:g:LUsAAOSwVCRZdMBd) 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Rusty Greaves
minor addition

[Rusty Greaves]

Attached is a beautiful image of the Grand Cordon (1st Class) of the Order of Ismail. This is the only photo I have come across that shows the sash folded in what may be approximately its proper configuration in the presentation case (see the image of the unfolded sash from eMedals that I posted in this thread on November 13), although I am not completely certain of this. 

Grand Cordon (1st Class) of the Order of Ismail. This photo shows what is likely the correct configuration of the sash in the presentation case, breast badge (above) and star badge (below) suspended from the decorative bow. This example is identified as being in its presentation case, although I am unsure whether this photo was taken with it in that case. The auction site identifies it incorrectly as the "Knight's Grand Cross". The manufacturer is J. Lattes, the height of the star suspended for the bow is 62 mm (including the crown) x 80 mm wide (eMedals, JOMSA vol 57, No 4, 2006, and other sources identify it as 82 mm wide), the chest badge is 80 mm in diameter (eMedals, the same JOMSA article, and other sources identify it as 84 mm). The length of the sash is not identified, but eMedals states that the sash is 100 mm in width with two 9 mm-wide edge stripe inset 2 mm from each edge. This example shows a "third" red strip on the R side because the other loop of the sash is showing from below. This comes from Lot 28 of an auction on 4 December, 2017 by Spink & Son with an expected sale price of 2500-3000 GBP. (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10156/lot-3b07acb4-542f-4733-93a3-a83200b99892)

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by Rusty Greaves

[oamotme]

Dear Rusty Greaves,

With regard to the miniature displayed with the small red stone (or cabochon) this is a miniature of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia although poorly executed as the lower arms of this star should be conjoined. The cross on the suspension crown 'gives it away'. Early examples of the full size in the lower grades has such stars but I have only seen this once seen such in the miniatures and on a higher grade.

Regards,

Owain

[Rusty Greaves]

Well, lot 140 is a chimera with an Ethiopian crown & cross, some arm elements to the star reminiscent of the Order of Ismail and possible borders more similar to what you have illustrated, and a lot of magical unrealism thrown in. 

 

[Rusty Greaves]

I have found a couple of good quality images of the 4th Class (Officer) award for this Order while rummaging on my computer to try and locate dimensions for this badge. The breast badge is suspended on a ribbon with a rosette and is worn on the left side. This form of the badge is smaller than the breast badges of the 1st and 2nd class versions of this award. The description from this auction site identifies the badge's dimensions as 74 mm tall x 55 mm wide. The only examples of possible lapel insignia that I have found are for this class of the order of Ismail. Rosettes without ribbons are occasionally identified or illustrated in some sources for the Officer class of the Order of Ismail. 

I have inadvertently made a few errors on captions of previous images of this award class. On 13 November I identified the 4th class award as a chest badge on a ribbon with a rosette in text above the image, but my caption below the photo from Flickr called it a neck badge. Oops. On 15 November in my description of this badge I identified it as the 3rd Class and did the same for the caption of another image of this badge from Flickr in its presentation case from Tewfiq Bichay. Didn't catch those until my editing window time was done. Have been holding off on corrections until I could provide additional info on the Officer's badge and better images. 

Image of the Officer (4th Class) breast badge of the Order of Ismail made by Lattes, dimensions are 74 mm X 55 mm (https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/auction-xxix/order-ismail)

Close-up image of the Officer (4th Class) breast badge of the Order of Ismail showing good detail of the Khedive crown and the other suspension elements for attachment to the ribbon (https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/auction-xxix/order-ismail)

Edited December 8, 2017 by Rusty Greaves
minor orthographic correction

[Rusty Greaves]

Here is an apparently recent photo of King Fuad II wearing three medals, including the Order of Ismail. Note the different positions of the stars for these Orders compared with King Farouk I's portrait in the last image of my post on 13 November, 2017, where the Order of Muhammed Ali & the Order of Ismail are the two superior stars (Muhammed Ali on the left and Ismail on the right) and the Order of the Nile is below them. 

Recent image of King Fuad II from Royal World Thailand (@royalworldthailand) posted in celebration of his 66th Birthday on 16, January 2018. It shows him wearing the stars of the Order of Muhammed Ali (above), Order of Ismail (left), and the Order of the Nile (right). The sash is for the Grand Cordon of the Order of Muhammed Ali and the badge would be suspended from the decorative bow. (https://instarix.com/p/1614533924415312475_3629956815; photo by Shabab Ahram)

Edited March 12, 2018 by Rusty Greaves

[oamotme]

It is a nice picture and the stars are being worn in, I believe, the correct order of precedence - the sash appears to be one of watered silk. Owain

[Rusty Greaves]

Owain, I apologize for my ignorance about the correct protocol for wearing the stars. Does your point mean that the portrait of Farouk I (in my post of 13, November 2017) showing the same order for the Order of Muhammed Ali; the Order of Ismail; & the Order of the Nile is correct and the placement in this recent image of Fuad II is just another variant as long as the sequence is the same? 

Edited March 12, 2018 by Rusty Greaves