Miniatures of the Middle East & Arab World

[Rusty Greaves]

 

The first photo below is of another miniature of a Republic of Egypt Order of Independence (Nisah al-Istiklal) from a 2014 auction by H. D. Rauch (lot 4682), archived on the acsearch.info website (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=Egypt&category=4&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&images=1&thesaurus=1&order=0&currency=usd&company=).

No dimensions or manufacturer is specified for this Republic of Egypt Order of Independence miniature. This example (above) shows some differences from other miniatures of this medal I Illustrated on this thread in the 1st photo on 25 April, 2018 and in the 1st photo on 30 July, 2018. The example above notably lacks the dots present in the outer white and blue margins of the central medallion of both of the previously illustrated examples. 

The image above shows a group of 6 miniatures from a 2014 auction by H. D. Rauch (lot 4682), also archived on the acsearch.info website (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=Egypt&category=4&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&images=1&thesaurus=1&order=0&currency=usd&company=). This group includes, from L to R, Tunisia: Order of the Republic; Egypt; Order the Republic,  Syria; Order of Civil Merit; a second example of the Egyptian Order of the Republic;  Lebanon: National Order of the Cedar; and Morocco: Order of the Throne. 

Above are 2 examples of miniatures of the Egyptian Order of Ismail from a recent 2018 auction of La Galleria Numismatique, featured on the Sixdbid.com website. On the L is a 3rd Class Commander grade of this mini, indicted by the rosette and silver galon (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=5367&category=168960&lot=4479891). It is identified as 30 mm tall by 20 mm wide and made of silver. On the L is a 4th Class Officer mini, indicated by the rosette and lack of a galon (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=5367&category=168960&lot=4479892). This Officer Class mini also is identified as silver and measuring 30 mm tall and 20 mm wide.  Both of these appear to be older miniatures, comparable to the examples I illustrated on this thread in the 1st photo on 6 December 2017, my post of 11 Decemebr 2017, and that Owain shows in his  (upper row 2nd from R) on his post here of 11 December, 2017 (and the reverse of that mini in his 1st photo on the post of 12 December 2017, also upper row 2nd from R). The two minis above and the ones I listed as comparable are different from what appears to be a more recently manufactured  version I illustrated in the 2nd photo on 6 December, 2017 (on the R) that lacks the Khedival crown as part of the suspension device and is associated with the somewhat unusual mini in the L of that photo with very abbreviated design based on the sash badge (1st Class, Grand Cordon) and neck badge (2nd Class, Grand Officer along with a chest star; and 3rd Class Commander that has a neck badge only as the full-sized regalia). The configuration of the 3rd Class mini above contrasts with the example  I illustrated here on 16 October, 2018 that has a rosette and silver galon, that made me wonder whether the 3rd Class mini might more appropriately be the neck badge form. Rather than representing different medal forms for different classes, these appear to show that older miniatures of the Order of Ismail (likely from before it was discontinued in 1952) are distinctly different from those that probably date even much more recently than the 1952 termination of this award (except as "royal exile" awards as discussed by 922F on 5 December 2017 in the thread I started: "Question about the Order of Ismail/Nishan al-Ismail" on  7 November,  2017 here in the Middle East & Arab States section). It appears all of the clearly older forms of the mini employ the design of the chest star for this order, and several more recent miniatures Order of Ismail medals use the sash badge/neck star design (shown in this thread on the 2nd photo of 6 December, 2017; the oddly configured modern piece in the 4th photo on 6 December, 2017 from falera-et-orbis.com inventory of "in-stock" minis; and the inexpensive eBay example manufactured in 2015 in the 5th photo from my 6 December, 2017 post, as well as that shown on 16 October, 2018). 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Rusty Greaves

[Paul R]

Rusty, I am very impressed with your array of Middle Eastern Awards.  I love the beautiful enameling and unique designs they implement in their awards.  Each one is a beautiful piece of art.  Thank you for sharing.

[Rusty Greaves]

I am not a collector, none of these are items I own. I joined this site to find out more about the Order of Ismail that my wife's great grandfather was awarded (2nd Class, Grand Officer), probably at the end of his term in 1936 as a District Court Judge in Cairo on the International Mixed Courts. I also have been researching a table medal (probably struck in 1910) he obtained commemorating the anniversary of the coronation of Abbas Hilmi II and his return form his pilgrimage to Al Medina & Mecca. The GMIC participation has also led me into some other fun avenues, such as periodically contributing to this thread that Owain set up in response to some questions I had about miniatures of the Order of Ismail. I am providing the sources of the images I include because I do not own any of these items and want to provide credit for these photos. I just come across them in some of the research I'm doing on the family pieces from Egypt, the Egyptian Mixed Courts, and trying to educate myself about this time period. 

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by Rusty Greaves

[Paul R]

20 hours ago, Rusty Greaves said:

I am not a collector, none of these are items I own. I joined this site to find out more about the Order of Ismail that my wife's great grandfather was awarded (2nd Class, Grand Officer), probably at the end of his term in 1936 as a District Court Judge in Cairo on the International Mixed Courts. I also have been researching a table medal (probably struck in 1910) he obtained commemorating the anniversary of the coronation of Abbas Hilmi II and his return form his pilgrimage to Al Medina & Mecca. The GMIC participation has also led me into some other fun avenues, such as periodically contributing to this thread that Owain set up in response to some questions I had about miniatures of the Order of Ismail. I am providing the sources of the images I include because I do not own any of these items and want to provide credit for these photos. I just come across them in some of the research I'm doing on the family pieces from Egypt, the Egyptian Mixed Courts, and trying to educate myself about this time period. 

 

Well,

I definitely appreciate your conversation and contributions.  What happened to these awards from your wife's relatives?  I hope they are still in the family somewhere.

[Rusty Greaves]

Paul, I am most grateful for your kind words and interest in this fun string that Owain set up. In relation to the Order of Ismail and the Abbas Hilmi II Commemorative Medal, they are still in the family. No one has seen the Mixed Courts Judges' Badge that Judge Pierre Crabitès would have worn when he sat in Court in Cairo, and occasionally on the circuit to Mansourah and Port Said. 

Currently in relation to this thread, I'm just stumbling into images of minis to just throw in here. I know very little about any of the full-sized awards these represent, other than some of the Egyptian ones. Of course. all of these medals are covered in-depth in other threads here, principally in this "Middle East & Arab States" section identified as "Arab Medals -- X-County Name", with fabulous info about the full-sized medals, but also many pictures of additional variation in the forms of these and many other miniatures. 

I found a few probably quite common miniature examples in an online American museum catalog through an image door onto the website (the search features weren't working to find objects whose names were associated with images I could pull up) of the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, in illinois (https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu). All of the medals illustrated below come from the Seymour and Muriel Yale Collection of Coins of the Ottoman Empire and Other Middle East States. The Spurlock Museum of World Cultures mugshots below give the full Artifact Identification #, and then a cropped version still taking advantage of the scale (in CM). 

Libya, Order of Independence miniature. Artifact Identification #: 1971.15.3555. The "Length" (including the ribbon)=7.9 cm; "Width" (the maximum width of the  medal)=1.5 cm; & "Width" (the maximum width of the ribbon)=1.1 cm ; weight=2.0 g.  (https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.3555)

Syria, Order of Civil Merit miniature. Artifact Identification #: 1971.15.3235. "Length"=6.7 cm; "Width"=1.4 cm; "Height"=0.1 cm; Weight=2.18 g. https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.3235

Iraq Victory Medal. Artifact identification #: 1971.15.2072. (Identified incorrectly in the catalogue as from Saudi Arabia, the Medal of "Hussein Ibn Ali of Hejaz"). Diameter=1.82 cm; Width=o.23 cm; Weight=3.79 g. https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.2072

 

Edited November 17, 2018 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Here are a few more from the Spurlock Museum's Seymour and Muriel Yale Collection of Coins of the Ottoman Empire and Other Middle East States: The Museum also had an example of a full-sized Jordanian Hashemite Kingdom Order of Independence medal (mistakenly identified as a mini) that I have a question about at the end of this thread, and photos from other sources of some miniatures of the Order of Independence. 

I. 

Obverse

reverse

Iraq, Kingdom, General Service Medal miniature. Artifact identification #: 1971.15. 3556. (identified incorrectly in the catalogue as: "Libya, Order of Isrikal" [sic]). The "Length" (including the ribbon)=5.1 cm; "Width" (the maximum width of the  medal)=1.4 cm; & "Width" (the maximum width of the ribbon)=1.5 cm ; Weight=2.0 g. https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.3556

 

Obverse

Reverse

Egypt, Order of the Nile miniature. Artifact identification #: 1971.15. 2899. "Height" =6.17 cm; Diameter=2.15 cm; Depth=0.52 cm; Weight=5.41 g. https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.2899. The larger "mugshot" original photo for this Order of the Nile mini from the Spurlock Museum was too large to easily upload here. 

Egypt, Order of the Republic miniature, 3rd Class. Artifact identification #: 1971.15. 3234. (identified incorrectly in the catalogue as: "Egypt, miniature Victory Star"). The silver galon indicates this is the 3rd Class of this award. This is a Type I example with the lily suspension device and the lighter blue color enamel on the embellished 5  rays & enameled ring round the central medallion. "Length" (including the ribbon)=7.1cm; "Width"=1.1 cm; "Height"=0.4 cm; Weight=3.48 g. https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.3234

Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom, Order of Independence (Wisam al-Istiklal (Istiqlal).  Artifact identification #: 1971.15. 3233. (identified incorrectly in the catalogue as: "Iraq, miniature Victory Star").  The size and weight of this indicates this is probably a full-sized version of this medal, not he miniature. "Length" (including the ribbon)=11.4 cm; "Width" =4.9 cm; "Height"=1.1cm; Weight=30 g. It appears that this form without the  gold wreath above the silver-rayed embellishment and underneath the 5-armed white enameled star, surrounding the central medallion with the cipher of Al-Hussein ibn Ali is the design for the 5th Class Knight version of this award. I believe that all illustrations of this Order on GMIC  show classes with the gold wreath embellishment of higher classes. Other examples without the gold wreath are shown at: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10167/lot-8fe6bc71-f7cf-47c8-b33f-a8bd0111c0c7, identified as a 5th Class chest badge; http://www.najafcoins.com/Wor_Med_Ord_JKL.htm, identified as a Knight Class; 2 examples with contrasting designs that lack the wreath are shown at https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/dixnoonanwebb/catalogue-id-dix-no10035/lot-62b85175-32ec-467e-9443-a75100f2c5c5, identified as 5th Class; a boxed set at https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=3116&category=63949&lot=2606978 that is identified as a 5th Class made by Huguenot of Switzerland that includes a miniature (shown in the 1st photo below). I have seen a couple examples of the full-sized award with the gold wreath identified as 5th Class (i.e., this example from Medal-Medaille: http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=498_72&products_id=10590&osCsid=muk09a44arnp40psc96vkkuqa1), but of course there can be ID mistakes on these sites.  I wonder if someone more knowledgable about this award could confirm whether the medal without the wreath is the 5th Class Knight's versions of this award? 

Boxed set identified as the 5th Class Knight's Cross version of the Jordan,Order of independence showing the lack of the gold wreath around the central medallion for both the full-sized and miniature chest badges. From a 2016 La Galerie Numismatique  auction archived on the Sixbid.com website (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=3116&category=63949&lot=2606978). The full-sized medal measures 67 x 42 mm, no dimensions are given for the miniature, this set is made by Huguenin, Switzerland.

Unusual example identified as a miniature of the Jordan, Order of Independence 4th Class, Officer version measuring 30 x 19 mm. Bronze with no enamel (website calls it a "prototype") from a 2016 La Galerie Numismatique auction archived on the Sixbid.com website (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=3116&category=63949&lot=2606977). The rosette with no galon suggests this is 5th Class mini. 

I do not know if this example of the Order of Independence without the gold wreath from the Najaf Coins & Collectibles website may be a miniature or not. No dimensions or other information is provided in the brief description. However, the workmanship of the silver embellishment and the suspension device suggests this may be a mini.  http://www.najafcoins.com/Wor_Med_Ord_JKL.htm and http://www.najafcoins.com/Images/o3744.jpg

Two miniatures of the Jordan Order of Independence from a 2018 auction by Spink & Son archived on The Salesroom website (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/spink/catalogue-id-srspi10167/lot-777aa81d-43b8-4110-a94d-a8bd0111be2a). Although they are not identified as miniature on the auction description, the size, lack of detail in the casting, and design variations of the suspension devices all indicate these are miniatures. No class identified, the sizes are identified as "27 x 18 mm and 22 mm".  

Jordan, Order of Independence 2nd Class Commander miniature from a complete boxed set of the neck badge (41 x 65 mm), breast star (82.8 x 87.5 mm), miniature, and rosette. The gold & silver galon is correct for the 2nd Class. This miniature measures 18.8 mm x 31 mm, is silver gilt, and made by Arthus Bertrand of Paris. This example is from a previous eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/middle-east/jordan/a-french-made-order-of-independence-al-istiklal-commander-s-set-w2007). 

 

Edited November 19, 2018 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

While I was checking out comparative images for the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom Order of Independence, I came across 2 other Jordanian minis on the Sixbid.com website:

Jordan, Order of the Renaissance miniature (Order of Al Nadah), National Merit. Identified as the 4th Class, Officer's Cross, measuring 30 mm x 18 mm, bronze, unusual example in lacking any enamel (website calls it a "prototype"), and dating to 1948. From a 2016 auction by La Galerie Numismatique, archived own the Sixbid.com website: https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=3116&category=63949&lot=2606969

Jordan, Order of the Star miniature. Identified as the 4th Class, Officer's Cross. Dimensions = 21 mm x 18 mm, bronze, also an unusual example with no enamel (website calls it a "prototype"). From a 2016 auction by La Galerie Numismatique, archived on the Sixbid.com website: https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=3116&category=63949&lot=2606973

Edited November 19, 2018 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I missed the editing window in relation to the last miniature of the Jordanian Hashemite Kingdom Order of Independence shown above on my 2nd post of 17 November, 2018. The catalog identified this medal set as a "Commander's Set", however this 2nd Class award would be that of the Grand Officer. The salon  on the ribbon with gold on the L and silver on the R is the correct configuration for the Grand Officer, 2nd Class of this award. 

[Rusty Greaves]

I  posted the following bar of miniatures on my thread "Question about the Order of Ismail" on November 10, 2018 and did not copy it here. 

I am particulalrly interested in this image providing another example of the form of the miniature of the Order of Ismail with the chest star configuration, shown in this listing on acsearch.info from a 2016 auction by Auktionhaus H. R. Rauch (top set obverse of the Order of Ismail is shown on far R; reverse shown on top L far L; and the obverse of the Order of Ismail is on the bottom image in the case on the far R) along with 10 other miniatures on a chain. (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=Egypt&category=4&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&images=1&thesaurus=1&order=0&currency=usd&company=) The resolution of this illustrations is too poor for any meaningful detail of that Order of Ismail miniature medal or any of the others on that same chain, but is shown below simply as another example of this form of the Order of Ismail mini. The auction description (from a 2016 auction) includes the following: A Personal Group of 11 Miniatures on a Chain: France, Colonial Medal, Germany, Grand Cross ofMerit of the Order of the Republic, Morocco, Grand Cross of the Ouissam al-Aoui, Guatemala, Grand Cross of the Order of the Quetzal, Djibouti, Grand Cross of the Nichan el-Anouar, Cambodia, Grand Officer of the Royal Order of the Sahametrei, Egypt, Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile (Type II), Comoros, Commander of the Star of Comoros, Tunisia, Commander of the Nichan el-Iftikhar, Serbia, Officer of the Order of Saint Sava, Egypt, Officer of the Order of Ismail. Breast Badges, different sizes, Silver or Silver gilt, enameled, original suspension rings and ribbons, hanging from a Silver giltchain, hallmarked "crab", in a box of issue by "Arthus-Bertrand, Paris"

In the "Question about the Order of Ismail" thread where I originally posted this image, Owain posted the following comment about this miniature medal group on 13 December, 2018: "With regard to the Rauch set of miniatures illustrated in your previous post, probably to a French recipient, it would appear that one of the awards is an 'extra' either added by the recipient to his chain - rather than get a longer chain, or perhaps added much later. Has the Ismail been squeezed in? The fact that the chain includes an Egyptian Monarchy Order of Ismail and a Republic Order of the Nile is of interest - the latter was for recipients of the rank of Prime Minister of similar. the Ismail would chronologically been awarded first but it appears to be an 'extra' in this group  although in seniority it may be the junior foreign award by rank or grade."

I posted the following brief question back to Owain on 11 January, 2019 (also on the "Question about the Order of Ismail" thread: "Your additional information and point about the mix of Monarchy and Republic era miniatures in the Rauch photograph is quite interesting. The Republic Order of the Nile is a 2nd Class of that Order (galon with gold on R and silver on L) while the Order of Ismail mini appears to be the 4th Class (rosette with no galon). Unfortunately, very few images of miniatures Order of Ismail I have run across show any galon to demonstrate common use on the minis. Would those differences in Class help explain the order of the the two Egyptian minis on this French bar?"

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Below is another example of one of the least common forms of the miniature of the Egyptian Order of the Nile from a March 2014 auction listing of  LA Galerie Numismatique on the six bid.com website , fourth-most miniature medal on the right (obverse, reverse =right-most on the third, right-most image). Unfortunately, this is not a high resolution image. The rosette without galon indicates that it is most likely a miniature of the 4th Class of this award (consistent with the auction description). This example has separate rays on the silver embellishment below the enameled five-armed star. I illustrated an example of this configuration in the righthand image of my post on 22 July, 2018 in this thread. Owain illustrated the obverse of a very similar example of this form in his post of 11 December, 2017 on this thread (upper row, extreme R), and the reverse in his post of 12 December, 2017 (also upper row, extreme R). However, the example below differs most from that comparable example in the more attenuated width of each of the separate rays and in the longer attachment of the embellishment to the suspension device. An example I illustrated on 14 February, 2018 in the 2nd photo (obverse) and 3rd photo (reverse) show a version of the mini with separation of the outermost rays of this embellishment but a greater amount of the embellishment rays are solid near the central white enameled star. Another example I posted in the first (obverse) and 2nd photo (reverse) of my post on 2 April, 2018 shows a version where each of the major groups of larger (5) and smaller (5) rays (10 separated units in total) show a separation, but not each individual ray of the embellishment. Most miniature variants of the Order of the Nile presents solid rays on the embellishment, as is the normal configuration of the full-sized award.   

The auction listing identifies the 4 miniature medals as: "1914 Star; War Medal 191420, Victory Medal, Egyptian Order of the Nile, 4th Class.They are in a fitted case reading" "A&N C.S. Ltd.Westminster" and are a named set belonging to D. R. Tweedle (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=1170&category=24859&lot=1086152)

Below is an example of a miniature of the Persian Order of Homayoun (Order of Sun and Lion) from the same March 2014 auction by La Galerie Numismatique archived onto six bid.com website (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=1170&category=24867&lot=1086217). The description identifies this as the Commander's Cross miniature (neck badge), 26 mm wide x 33 mm high, silver and enameled medallion, and is of Austrian manufacture. 

Below are several images of a Jordanian miniature of the Star of Jordan (Wisam al-Kawkab al-Urdani) archived on the Medal-Medaille website (http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=499_399&products_id=3481). The galon with gold on the L and silver on the R identifies this as a 2nd Class miniature of this Order. The auction listing identifies this piece as: "Miniature seven-pointed rayed silver star surmounted by a smaller seven-pointed rayed silver star with rounded points, five-pointed silver-gilt stars between the arms, on five-pointed star suspension; the face with a silver central medallion inscribed in Arabic ‘Abdullah ibn Hussain’ encircled by a green enamel ring inscribed in gilt Arabic lettering ‘Order of the Star’ and bearing the date ‘1366’ (1949 AD); the reverse plain; height 20.87mm (0.82 inch), diameter 17.43mm (0.68 inch);silver hallmark and maker’s mark on the suspension ring; slight surface wear; on original ribbon with rosette and silver band denoting an award of the officer class. The Order was instituted in July 1949 by King Abdullah ibn Hussain and may be awarded for both military and civil merit."

Three views of the obverse of this miniature Jordanian Star of Jordan

Detail of the suspension device and hallmarks

Two view of the reverse of this miniature of this same Star Of Jordan

Below are photos of another example of a Jordanian miniature of the Star of Jordan from the medal-Medaille website. The auction description includes: "Miniature seven-pointed rayed silver star surmounted by a smaller seven-pointed rayed silver star with rounded points, five-pointed silver-gilt stars between the arms, on five-pointed star suspension; the face with a silver central medallion inscribed in Arabic ‘Abdullah ibn Hussain’ encircled by a green enamel ring inscribed in gilt Arabic lettering ‘Order of the Star’ and bearing the date ‘1366’ (1949 AD); the reverse plain; height 20.87mm (0.82 inch), diameter 17.43mm (0.68 inch);silver hallmark and maker’s mark on the suspension ring; slight surface wear; on original ribbon with rosette and silver band denoting an award of the officer class. The Order was instituted in July 1949 by King Abdullah ibn Hussain and may be awarded for both military and civil merit." (http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=499_399&products_id=3584)

Two views of the obverse of this miniature Star of Jordan

Four views of the reverse of this miniature of the Star of Jordan. The last 2 images show some detail of the hallmarks on the reverse. 

Below are photos of a Jordanian miniature of the Order of Independence (Wisam an-Istiqlal) from the Medal-Medaille website (http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=499_399&products_id=3466). The Auction description reads: "Miniature ten-pointed rayed silver star on gilt wreath suspension; the face with a laurel wreath supporting a five-pointed white enamel star with a central circular red enamel medallion bearing the gilt inscription ‘Al-Hussein ibn Ali’ in Arabic characters; the reverse plain; height 28.6mm (1.12 inches), diameter 17.75mm (0.7 inch); hallmarked and maker’s mark on the suspension ring; on original ribbon. The Wisam al-Istiqlal was established by Emir Hussein I ibn Ali in 1921 as an award for civilian or military merit whilst he was ruler of the Hejaz. In 1924 ibn Saud ousted Hussein and founded what became the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hussein fled to Cyprus and later settled in Amman, his son Abdullah having become Emir of Transjordan in 1921. The order was adopted by the Emirate (later Kingdom) of Transjordan. Abdullah became King Abdullah I and the current King of Jordan is his great-grandson. The Order continues to be awarded."

Three images of the obverse of this miniature Jordanian Order of Independence 

Detail of the suspension device on this Jordanian Order of Independence (note 2 hallmarks on the left side of the suspension ring) 

Closer view of the hallmarks on the suspension ring of this Jordanian Order of Independence

Two views of the reverse of this Jordanian Order of Independence

Below are several images of a miniature of the Jordanian Supreme Order of the Renaissance (Wisam an-Nahada) from Medal-Medaille website (http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=499_399&products_id=3596).  The description accompanying this medal reads: "Miniature six-pointed silver star with beaded edges to the arms, a green enamel leaf and two orange-yellow enamel buds between each of the arms, on a crowned black, white, green and red enamel Arab Revolt flag suspension; the face with a circular central silver gilt medallion bearing crossed Arab revolt flags in black, white and green enamel with the name of the founder of the Order in Arabic script within a red enamel ring bearing the name of the Order in Arabic script with beaded border; the reverse plain; height 28.3mm (1.07 inches), diameter 18.18mm (0.71 inch); slight loss of enamel from the points of the star; on probably non-conforming ribbon. The Wisam an-Nahada was established by Emir Hussein I ibn Ali in 1917 as an award for service during the Arab Uprising against the Ottoman Turks whilst he was ruler of the Hejaz. In 1924 ibn Saud ousted Hussein and founded what became the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hussein fled to Cyprus and later settled in Amman, his son Abdullah having become Emir of Transjordan in 1921. The order was adopted by the Emirate (later Kingdom) of Transjordan in 1925 as both a military and civil order. It was made by Bichay of Cairo and Garrards in London. Abdullah became King Abdullah I and the current King of Jordan is his great-grandson. The Order continues to be awarded."

Three views of the obverse of this miniature of the Jordanian Supreme Order of the Renaissance

Two views of the reverse of this miniature of the Jordanian Supreme Order of the Renaissance

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I am including images of several miniatures of the Ottoman Order of Osmanieh and the Order of Medjidie, mostly from past auction on the eMedals website. These show some of the variation in form and execution of these miniatures. 

Below are a few illustrations of a miniature Ottoman Order of Osmanieh from the Medal-Medaille website (http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=499_461&products_id=719). The listing identifies this piece as having a diameter of 19 mm. The rosette without galon indicates it is the 4th Class of this award. No manufacturer identified.

 

 

Above are 3 images of the obverse of this miniature of the Order of Osmanieh.

 

Above are 2 images of the reverse of this miniature order of Osmanieh

 

Above are 2 images detailing the suspension device of this same medal (upper=obverse; lower=reverse)

Below are a few images of another miniature of the Order of Osmanieh from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/a-fine-miniature-turkish-order-of-osmania-osmanli). This example is identified in the auction description as made of silver, with red and green enamel and measuring 18.5 mm wide x 26.5 mm high (including the crescent and star suspension device). No manufacturer is specified. 

Obverse of this miniature of the Order of Osmanieh.

Oblique obverse of this miniature of the Order of Osmanieh showing additional design details.

Reverse image of this miniature of the Order of Osmanieh.

Oblique obverse view of this miniature of the Order of Osmanieh showing more detailed design aspects.

Below are a few images of two turkish miniatures, an Order of Medjidie and an Order of Osmanieh, from a miniature 1870 Franco-Priussiona War era chain of 8 miniature medals. The auction description identifies the medals as (R to L): "Iron Cross 1870, crisp details, 14mm, non-magnetic; Order of Hohenzollern with Swords, in silver, crown in Gold, 16x26mm; Saxon Duchies, Ernestine Order, breast star, in silver, center in Gold and enamels, 17.5mm; Saxon Duchies, Ernestine Order, in Gold and enamels, 14x21mm; 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War medal, bronze; 1866 Campaign Cross, bronze; Turkey, Order of Osmania (Osmanli), breast star...; Order of Medjidie (Mecidiye), breast star..." The miniatures are mounted on a gilt chain that is 19 mm long. From a pair eMedals auction: (https://www.emedals.com/an-1870-franco-prussian-war-period-miniature-award-chain)

Obverse of a miniature Order of Mejidie (far L) and a miniature Order of Osmanieh. The Order of Medjidie is identified as 19 mm in diameter and made of silver with the central medallion made of gold and enamel. The Order of Osmanieh is 20 mm in diameters and also made of silver with the central medallion made of gold and enamel. The form of the Order of Osmanieh indicates it represents either a 1st or 2nd Class version of this award. No manufacturer is identified for wither of the Ottoman miniatures. 

Reverse of the same medals on this chain, from R to L are the Order of Mejidie and the Order of Osmanieh. 

Obverse of the complete miniature set of miniature medals on this chain.

Below are a few photos of another miniature chain from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/a-late-19th-century-diplomatic-miniature-set-in-gold-eu7183). This group of 8 miniatures is identified as a  late 19th century diplomatic miniature set in gold, mounted on a solid gold chain. The medals are identified as: "Bavaria, Order of the Crown, in Gold and enamels, 14x21mm, hallmark of Vince Mayer, Vienna, on the ring, along with Austrian Imperial 18Kt. Gold hallmark; Turkey, Order of Mecidie,...; Saxon Duchies, Ernestine House Order, in Gold and enamels, 15x23mm; Austria, Order of the Iron Crown, in Gold and enamels, 11x21mm; Austria, Franz Joseph Order, in Gold and enamels; Turkey, Order of Osmania, silver, gold and enamels (reverse center missing); Prussia, Order of the Crown, in gilt and enamels; Russia, Order of St. Anne, in Gold and enamels, 12x12mm. Generally very fine to extremely fine condition, circa 1900, of very fine quality manufacture."

Above is a view of the obverse of the Order of Osmaieh (3rd from L) miniature on this chain. The Order of Osmanieh is identified as made from silver, gold, and enamels (the reverse center is stated to be missing) . No dimensions are given for this miniature and no manufacturer is specified. 

Above is the obverse of the miniature Order of Medjidie (2nd from R) on this chain. The Order of Medjidie is identified as made of silver with the central medallion in gold and enamels. No dimensions are given for this miniature and no manufacturer is identified. 

Above is the reverse of the miniature Order of Medjidie (2nd from L) on this chain. 

An oblique view of the obverse of the Order of Medjidie (2nd from R) on this chain. 

Above is the complete set of miniature medals on this chain. 

Below are a couple photos of a miniature Order of Medjidie on another chain of 6 miniatures, identified as a diplomatic set, from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/an-early-attractive-diplomatic-miniature-chain-in-gold-eu7104). The auction description identifies the  set as: "Prussian, Order of Red Eagle, in Gold and enamels (13x16mm); Sweden, Order of the Sword, in Gold and enamels; Spain, Order of Isabella the Catholic, in Gold and enamels (14x22mm); Greece, Order of Redeemer, in Gold and enamels; Turkey, Order of Medjidie (Mecidiye), in Silver, center in Gold (13x19mm); France, Order of Legion of Honor,  in silver and enamels, center in gold; of fine quality manufacture, in worn condition, generally in very fine condition."

Obverse of the miniature Order of Medjidie (2nd from L) from this chain (and all the other 6 miniatures). The Order of Medjidie is identified as made of silver with the central medallion made of  and measuring 13 mm wide by 19 mm high. 

Reverse of the miniature Order of Medjidie (2nd from R) from this chain (and all the other 6 miniatures).

Oblique view of the miniature Order of Medjidie (2nd from L) from this chain (and all the other 6 miniatures).

Below is an image of a miniature Order of Medjidie from a mounted set of 9 miniatures on an archived past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/group-of-nine-miniatures-gb0476).

This miniature of the Order of Medjidie (far L) it is next to miniatures of the Egyptian Khedive Star and the Egyptian Khedive's Sudan Meda. TheOrder of Medjidie is identifies as made of silver and enamel and measuring 9.5 mm wide x 27 mm high. No manufacturer is identified for this medal. 

 

Below is another miniature Order of Medjidie in a group of miniatures from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/a-fine-victorian-miniature-group-of-four-gb2515). This set is identified as a Victorian period  miniature group on a bar that includes: "Indian Mutiny Medal (silver, 17.4 mm); Crimea Medal, 4 Clasps - ALMA, BALAKLAVA, INKERMANN, SEBASTOPOL (silver, 17.5 mm); Turkey: Order of Medjidie ...; and Turkey: Crimea Medal (silver, 17.5 mm). All period strikings, original ribbons, mounted to a period silver suspension bar with swingbar pinback, marked "HUNT ROSKILL", as worn by the veteran, light contact, near extremely fine. Footnote: Frederick Alexander Campbell Kane was commissioned into the Bombay Infantry in 1840. He was promoted to Captain on November 15, 1853, promoted to Brevet Major on December 12, 1854 and retired as a Major on December 31, 1861. Kane served in the Crimea (1854-1856) and during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1858)."

Obverse of the miniature order of Medjidie (2nd from R) and the other 3 miniatures on this bar, the Order of Medjidie is made of silver and enamels and measuring 18.3 mm wide x 25.5 mm high. No manufacturer is identified. 

Reverse of this miniature order of Medjidie (2nd from L) and the other 3 miniatures on this bar.

Oblique view of the obverse of the miniature order of Medjidie (2nd from R) and the other 3 miniatures on this bar. 

Oblique detailed image of the obverse of this same miniature order of Medjidie

Below is another miniature Order of Medjidie from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/a-miniature-turkish-order-of-medjidie-german-made-eu8335). It is identified as made from silver and enamel, no dimensions provided. This miniature is stated to be of German manufacture, but no specific maker is identified in the auction description. 

Obverse of this miniature Order of Medjidie

Reverse of the same miniature Order of Medjidie

 

Below is another miniature Order of Medjidie from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/a-miniature-turkish-order-of-medjidie-mecidiye). It is identified as 2-piece construction, made from silver and enamel, it measures 16.2 mm wide x 22.5 mm high (including all of the crescent & star suspension device). This example is stated to probably be of German manufacture (because of the high quality manufacture and finer design details), although no maker is identified. 

Obverse of this miniature Order of Medjidie

Reverse of the same miniature Order of Medjidie

Below are 3 photos of another miniature Order of Medjidie from a past eMedlas auction (https://www.emedals.com/a-fine-miniature-turkish-order-of-medjidie). This example shows much more abbreviated and less detailed execution. The auction description identifies this piece as German-made (no manufacturers is identified), it is made of silver and the central medallion and the the suspension device are in gold and enamel, it measures 20 mm wide by x 28 mm high. 

Obverse of this miniature Order of Medjidie

Detailed view of the obverse of this miniature Order of Medjidie, showing the very abbreviated form of the design elements in the gold and enamel central medallion of this example

Reverse of this same miniature Order of Medjidie

Below are 4 photos of a another miniature Order of Medjidie from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/a-miniature-turkish-order-of-medjidie-mecidiye-65360). This example is identified as probably of German manufacture and of extremely high quality, again with good design details on this piece. It is made of silver with gold with red enamel. This miniature measures 17.3 mm wide x 26 mm high, inclusive of its gold and red enameled crescent & star suspension device. 

Obverse of this miniature Order of Medjidie

Oblique obverse of this miniature Order of Medjidie showing additional design details

Reverse of this miniature Order of Medjidie

Oblique reverse image of this same miniature Order of Medjidie

 

Below are images of two much less-detailed and worn miniature examples of the Order of Osmanieh and the Order of Medjidie from a past eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/turkey-two-ottoman-empire-miniature-orders). The Order of Medjidie miniature is silver but the entire center medallion is damaged and it is missing all of its enamel design. It measures 14mm, in diameter.  The miniature  Order of Osmanieh is made of silver and enamel with some damage to the obverse face, lacks the lacking reverse center, and measures 14 mm in  diameter. 

Obverse of these 2 miniatures, Order of Osmanieh is on the L and the Order of Medjidie is on the R 

Reverse of these 2 miniatures, Order of Osmanieh is on the L and the Order of Medjidie is on the R 

Oblique image of the obverse of this miniature Order of Osmanieh

Oblique image of the obverse of this damaged miniature Order of Medjidie

Oblique image of the obverse of this miniature Order of Osmanieh

Edited January 20, 2019 by Rusty Greaves

[oamotme]

Gentlemen,

I detail below an image of a recently acquired Belgian group with an Order of the Nile - Commander Class - another variant.

Regards,

Owain

[Rusty Greaves]

Owain, that is a very interesting variant of a miniature of the Order of the Nile! The single piece construction is uncommon. The only example I illustrated with facets only on the central rays of the embellishment (the 4th post of 2 April, 2018 on this thread) has many others design differences from this unique example. Sorry for my long silence, I was working in Mexico in a remote Maya community with no internet or phone connections for a couple months. I have a couple bits of research to update over the next couple weeks. I'll start with the usual examples of some additional miniatures of the Order of the Nile awards, none as interesting as yours from 5 March. 

Two obverse views of this miniature of the Egyptian Order of the Nile, 4th Class (rosette with no galon), from a March 2019 eBay auction (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OBE-BRITISH-WAR-MEDAL-EGYPT-ORDER-OF-THE-NILE-MINIATURE-MEDAL-GROUP-OF-3-/143152249054?nma=true&si=cPHwS%252FtTJRlY2xkoq1HOZakCN%252Bw%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l257

Reverse the same miniature of the Order of the Nile from an eBay March 2019 auction. No hallmarks are visible on the reverse. 

Obverse of 2 Egyptian miniatures in a grouping of 5 medals (that also includes: a British War Medal 1914-1918 [silver]; a King George V Jubilee Medal 1935 [silver]; and a Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953 [silver]). On the L is a miniature of the Order of the Nile, 4th Class (rosette with no galon), and on the R=a Khedive's Sudan Medal, 1910, in silver with a clasp inscription for "Zeraf 1913-14". From a December 2018 eBay auction (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Miniature-Medal-Group-Egypt-Order-Nile-Khedives-Sudan-Medal-1910-Zeraf-1913-14-/372518376249?nma=true&si=cPHwS%252FtTJRlY2xkoq1HOZakCN%252Bw%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557). 

Reverse of the same two Egyptian miniature medals, L=the Khedive's Sudan Medal (silver) and R= the Order of the Nile on a Spink & Sons bar. 

Edited July 13, 2019 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Owain noted in his first post of  6 December, 2017 on this thread “Miniatures of the Middle East & Arab World” that some miniatures of the Order of Ismail were made by Gardino of Rome. I have not yet come across any images of Egyptian medals made by this manufacturer (but my investigations are limited to only a couple Egyptian awards), and I have not seen any manufacturer’s hallmarks for E. Gardino on any of the miniatures of the Order of Ismail, I wanted to provide some examples of Gardino’s hallmarks. I would be very interested in seeing photos of this hallmark on any Egyptian medals if some of the GMIC collectors have them. 

The Gardino webiste (http://www.gardino.it/chi.html) identifies the Gardino name as associated with the original Fratelli Borani medalist company that first appears in written documents  approximately in 1850 in Turin, although its founding date is unknown. A branch of that office was moved to Florence in 1864 when the capital was shifted, and later to Rome in 1871 following the unification of Italy. The Borani brothers got out of the precious metals trade, and the company was taken over by Domenico Cravanzola, who had been the director under the Fratelli Borani. He sold the business in 1913 to Luigi Raviolo and Enrico Gardino. Gardino’s son, Ettore, took over the business from Raviolo in 1927 and changed the shop name to “Gardino Succ.ri Ditta D. Cravanzola s.a.s.”

The above image is the only photo I have currently found that represents a miniature identified as having been made by Gardino showing a manufacturer’s hallmark. This is a photo of the reverse of a medal identified as a miniature of the Latvian Order of Three Stars. The photo comes from a current eBay auction (https://www.ebay.com/itm/371762626684?ul_noapp=true) and the description indicates a date range of 1924-1940, and suggests this is a “Grand Cross” breast star miniature. The knotted cord is a component of the wreath surrounding the central shield on several of the following hallmark photos, shown in the 5th, 8th, and 9th examples below (especially visible in the eMedals examples of the Italian Order of the Crown and the Albanian Order of Scanderbeg and less clearly on the Vatican Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem). This also is the only example of a hallmark I have come across attributed solely to Gardino and not linked to Cravanzola. The stars separating "GARDINO" and the knot from "ROMA" are seen on each side of the word "*ROMA*" in several examples of the most common form of the Gardino hallmark, also shown below in the 5th, 8th, and 9th photos. No dimensions are given for this particular miniature medal. 

I am not familiar with the medals produced by these workshops nor with any of the medals shown below, but am including these to show available images of potentially relevant Gardino manufacturer’s hallmarks in the hope they may stimulate contribution of some examples on Egyptian awards, especially any miniatures, and/or some discussion of these medallists. 

This is the reverse of full-sized Italian Order of St. Mauritius and St. Lazarus, Knight's Class from an April 2019 auction on the Very Important Lot website (https://veryimportantlot.com/en/lot/view/italy-knight-of-the-order-of-st-mauritius-and-st-174877). It reads: "D. CRAVANZOLA SUCC. F...[Frat?] BORANI *ROMA*". This is the only example of a hallmark showing the name of the Fratelli Borani linked with the name Cravanzola, that I have come across so far in my investigations. The coat of arms is the same as seen on (later?) hallmarks of "Gardino succ. Cravanzola" (see below), but there are few details visible in the wreath to determine whether the knots are present in this version or not. 

Reverse of a full-sized Italian Order of the Crown breast star showing the placement and approximate size of the manufacturer's hallmark. While much of the hallmark is obscured by the Tunic pin, the legend "E. GARDINO SUCC. CRAVANZOLA *ROMA*" can be read. This example is very similar to several shown below (see the 5th, 8th, and 9th photos below). Like most of the hallmarks for this medallist, they are attached cartouches not stamped hallmarks. The breast star in this cased set with the neck badge measures 74.88 mm in diameter. From a past auction archived on the Medal-Medaille website: (http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?products_id=8448). 

Inside of the case lid for this same example of the Italian Order of the Crown from the Medal-Medaille website showing the name of "E. Gardino succ. D. Cravanzola, Gioielliere, Roma"

The "E. GARDINO SUCC. CRAVANZOLA *ROMA* " manufacturer's hallmark cartouche on the reverse of full-sized breast star of the Italian Order of the Crown showing good detail of this cartouche. The knotted cords making up part of the interior design of the band around the central shield can be clearly seen in this photo, which is the symbol shown in the first photo of the Latvian miniature of the Order of Three Stars. This breast star measures 77.21 mm high X 77.76 mm wide. The auction description suggest this example may date to c.1930. From a current eMedals auction (https://www.emedals.com/italy-kingdom-an-order-of-the-crown-in-gold-commander-by-cravanzola-c-1930). 

The Gardino/Cravanzola name on the inside of the upper lid of the case of this same eMedals example of the Italian Order of the Crown with the spelling "Gioiellieria", in contrast with "Gioiellerie" on the Medal-Medaille example above. 

Another version of the Cravanzola succ. Gardino name on the inside of the upper lid of a case of a Grand Officer Class of the Italian Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. I cannot tell if the spelling  is "Gioiellerie" or "Gioiellaria" on this image. From a June 2019 auction of Bene Merenti Auktionen, archived on the Very Important Lot website (https://veryimportantlot.com/en/lot/view/italy-order-of-merit-of-the-republic-of-italy-gr-174887). 

The above image shows the reverse of a full-sized Vatican Order of Our Lady of Bethlehem showing a similar manufacturer’s hallmark to those above for "E. GARDINO SUCC. CRAVANZOLA *ROMA* ". The wreath in this example are more worn, and the knots are not as visible as in other hallmarks. This medal is 86.27 mm high X 87.24 mm wide. This example (Item: EG2665) comes from a past eMedals aucition and is described as dating to c.1930 and made by Gardino and Cravanzola (From: https://www.emedals.com/vatican-an-order-of-our-lady-of-bethlehem-grand-officer-s-star-by-gardino-and-cravanzola-c-1930)

Good image of the E. GARDINO SUCC. CRAVANZOLA *ROMA*" hallmark cartouche on the reverse of a full-sized sash badge of an Albanian Order of Scanderbeg, identified in the eMedals description as a Grand Cross sash badge and sash (no breast star is associated with this example). The knots in the wreath around the central shield are quite visible in this image. The badge measures 75 mm X 53 mm. The manufacturer is identified as "RAVIOLO & GARDINO ROMA". From a current eMedals auction, Item:EU11564 (https://www.emedals.com/an-albanian-order-of-scanderbeg-grand-cross-badge-by-raviolo-gardino-roma).  

An alternative form of the "E. GARDINO SUCC. DITTA CRAVANZOLA ROMA" hallmark on a full-sized neck badge of an Albanian Order of Scanderbeg. This example is identified as a Knight Grand Cross Class of this award (the neck badge suggests it is the Grand Officer or Commander Class of this award). No dimensions are provided for this badge. From a past auction curated on the Kubel 1943 website (https://www.kubel1943.it/eng/dettaglio.php?id=3729)

Another example of a slightly different lunate form of the "E. GARDINO SUCC. DITTA CRAVANZOLA ROMA" hallmark on the reverse of the breast star of a full-sized Italian Highest Order of All Saints Annunciation, chain and breast star. This breast star measures 83 mm in diameter. From an April 2019 auction of Bene Merenti Auktionen, archived on the Very Important Lot website (https://veryimportantlot.com/en/lot/view/italy-the-highest-order-of-all-saints-annunciatio-174869).

 

A different form of the "E. GARDINO SUCC. CRAVANZOLA" hallmark that also includes an address "ROMA VIA DEL CORSO 341" in the center of the attached manufacturer's  cartouche instead of the coat of arms. This example is on the reverse of a Libyan Order of the House of Representatives medal, and is identified in the auction description as a Grand Cross sash badge, possibly dating to 1951. This piece is 61 mm in diameter. From a past auction on The Orient Treasures website (https://www.theorienttreasures.com/shop-now/orders-medals-decorations/kingdom-of-libya-order-of-house-of-representatives-grand-cross-sash-king-idriss).

The same form of hallmark as above, but executed in gold, lacking the shield and wreath with knots and having the address of the medallist in Rome. This is on the reverse of a Peruvian Order of the Sun, identified in the description as the breast star of a Grand Cross Class of this award, possibly dating to 1930. This piece measures 78.8 mm in diameter. (From: https://www.emedals.com/a-1930-peruvian-order-of-the-sun-grand-cross-star-by-e-gardino-roman).

 

                                              

An additional variant of a E. Gardin hallmark is the square attached plate shown above with just the words "E. GARDINO ROMA", with a scrolling decor but lacking the knot design from the wreath around the shield. These are 2 examples of this attached cartouche on the full-sized Albanian Order of Fidelity (Urdhëri Besa). I have only seen this form of the Gardino cartouche on the Order of Fidelity. The example on the L is from a neck badge of a 3rd Class award of this Order (also in the double eagle shape), and this badge is identified as measuring 87 mm X 52 mm. From an August 2016 auction by La Galerie Numismatique archived on the Sixbid.com website (https://www.sixbid.com/en/la-galerie-numismatique/2873/albania/2399793/b-order-of-fidelity-urdheri-besa-b-br?term&orderCol=lot_number&orderDirection=asc&priceFrom&displayMode=large&auctionSessions=). The example on the R is a 5th Class breast badge of the Albanian Order of Fidelity and shows the placement and size of the hallmarked plate on the reverse of this badge. The badge is identified as measuring 45 mm X 36 mm. From the same August 2016 auction by La Galerie Numismatique archived on the Sixbid.com website as the image on the right: (https://www.sixbid.com/en/la-galerie-numismatique/2873/albania/2399794/b-order-of-fidelity-urdheri-besa-b-br?term&orderCol=lot_number&orderDirection=asc&priceFrom&displayMode=large&auctionSessions=). 

Reverse of full-sized Albanian Order of Fidelity sash badge for the Grand Cordon Class with the square "E. GARDINO ROMA" cartouche. This sash badge measures 88 mm high x 51 mm wide. The hallmark on the breast star of this set is the round version (like the 3rd, 5th, 8th, & 9th photos in this this post) with the inscription "E. GARDINO SUCC. CRAVANZOLA *ROMA*", with a central shield & wreath (see below). From an April 2019 auction of a set of sash badge, breast star, and sash by Bene Merenti Auktionen, archived on the on the Very Important Lot website (https://veryimportantlot.com/en/lot/view/albania-order-of-the-loyal-besa-order-2-model-174759) 

Reverse of the full-sized breast badge of the same Grand Cordon Class set of the Albanian Order of Fidelity. This shows the contrasting hallmark compared with the more abbreviated square cartouche on the double eagle-forms of the sash badge, neck badge, or chest medals  for this Order. It is unclear from this photo whether it shows lower detail of the knots within the wreath than other examples shown in this post. From the April 2019 auction of a set of sash badge, breast star, and sash by Bene Merenti Auktionen, archived on the on the Very Important Lot website. The breast star measures 87 mm high X 76 mm wide. 

Inside of the upper lid of a case holding 5 miniatures from a current eBay auction (https://www.ebay.com/itm/183840989020), using the word "Gioielleria". The description of the miniatures suggests they all were made by Gardino/Cravanzola, however none are Middle Eastern miniatures and no images are provided of the reverse of any of the five miniatures to show the form of any potential hallmarks. They include: "The Orders listed include the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (Order of Malta), the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (Holy See), the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George of the Royal House of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies, the Order of Merit of the Royal House of Savoy of Italy and the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross (a decoration of the Melkite Patriarchate), listed in precedence." 

Edited July 13, 2019 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Below is a low resolution image of a miniature of the Order of Ismail from a current Liverpool Medals auction (https://www.liverpoolmedals.com/product/order-of-ismail-commander), SKU L28804. The auction description correctly identifies it as a 3^rd Class award and provides measurements of 30 mm (height) x 20 mm (width). There is no additional information except a condition statement provided in the description. The 3^rd Class Commander is denoted by the silver galon and rosette on the ribbon. This example appears to be same mini I illustrated as the upper image of the 3^rd photo of 2 miniature Order of Ismail my post of 10 November, 2018 on this thread, in very high-resolution photos of both minis. These 2 minis were listed on a 2018 auction of La Galerie Numismatique that also was featured on the Sixbid.com website (no longer archived on the internet). I also illustrated this same mini the as the 4^th photo (only moderate resolution) of my post of 1 November, 2019 on the thread “Question about the Order of Ismail/Nishan al-Ismail” in this section Middle East & Arab States”, along with the same 4^th Class Knight mini that appeared in the 2018 La Galerie Numismatique auction, from an October 2018 Spink auction. The below illustrations include a photo of the reverse of this mini from the Liverpool Medals website, not present in the previous auction listings.  

This image of the obverse of this mini can be zoomed for a bit more detail. Compared with the very high-resolution image in my post of 10 November, 2018, the details of the rosette show that this is the identical ribbon. Other aspects of the faceted and rayed embellishment also show that this is the same miniature badge. The red stripes on the left side of the rosette show identical exposure and configuration of the blue threads with the 10 November image. Wear on the lower red stripe and the center blue one (between the upper red stripe) on the right margin of the rosette also are identical in the 10 November image of this miniature badge. Additionally, the parts of the crown suspension that appear red are the same as can be seen in the high-resolution 10 November illustration. 

The reverse of the same miniature Order of Ismail chest badge. None of the previous auction listings of this medal showed the reverse of this badge. A comparable image of the reverse of a miniature Order of Ismail is seen in the upper photo of Owain's post of 12 December, 2017 (upper row, 2nd medal from the right) on this thread. No hallmarks are visible on the reverse of this low-resolution image. Of interest, it shows the 2-piece construction with the facetted and rayed embellishment and crown suspension device as one piece and the gold (plated?) and enamel star as a separate component of the construction of this miniature. 

  

Edited February 13, 2020 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Below is another example of a miniature Order of the Nile. This medal is from a 9-10 May, 2018 auction by Dix Noonan Webb (Lot 1367) ((https://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/past-catalogues/lot.php?auction_id=476&lot_uid=311300) that also is archived on the saleroom.com website (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/dixnoonanwebb/catalogue-id-dix-no10052/lot-5b9ef927-7193-47b6-b74a-a8c400880591), with the auction date identified as 8 May. This is one of a mounted set of 6 miniatures identified as belonging to Captain Archibald G. Forsyth of the Royal Flying Corps. The other medals include: a 1914 Star with clasp; a British War and Victory medal with MID oak leaves; a Kingdom of Serbia Order of the Star of Karageorge with swords; and a Kingdom of Serbia Bravery Medal in silver. The set is in a case marked A. H. Baldwin & Sons, London. Some additional documents, photos, and newspaper clippings also were part of this auction lot. The auction listing includes a short biographical sketch of A. G. Forsyth's aircraft engineering background and later career, his war experiences with the Royal Flying Corps, and work designing racing car engines. Both archived listings provide equivalently high-resolution images of this set, and the Dix Noonan Webb listing also includes a high resolution image of the 2 Serbian medals. There is no information about any service in Egypt or why Forsyth may have received this award. 

 

The A. G. Forsyth Order of the Nile miniature is identified in the auction description as a Knight's Class mini, and the configuration of a ribbon with no rosette is correct for the 5th Class of this award. The form of this miniature is nearly identical to the 4th Class Officer miniature illustrated in the first 2 photos of my post of 13 July, 2019 on this thread, showing an example from a March 2019 eBay auction. Both of these versions show identical facets and linear margins of each ray of the embellishment. They both also exhibit the uncommonly undecorated link between the superior ray of the embellishment and the crown suspension device. The calligraphy of the gold central boss appears to be identical in both examples. What is distinct, and unusual, about the above Dix Noonan Webb example is that the gold margin of the central medallion's inscribed boss does not have small ball decorations, but is scalloped with simple cuts along the exterior margin, giving it a "beer bottlecap" look. The eBay example in my 13 July post has uneven facets forming the medallion frame decoration  that are not spheres, but they are more fully isolated than the simple cuts made in the medallion margin of the above Forsyth miniature. The auction description provides no information about the potential date of this award to A. G. Forsyth, nor any measurements for this medal. Additional information on dates and dimensions of the Serbian Order of the Star of Karageorge are included (but not for the other medals in the group). The Dix Noonan Webb archived listing does identify the material as silver, gold appliqué, and enamel. 

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I have found another image of one of the Order of Ismail miniatures that I illustrated in the 3rd photo of my post of 10 November, 2018 on this thread. On 12 February, 2020 I illustrated the reverse (and obverse) of the 3rd Class Commander miniature in the 10 November, 2018 high resolution image (left image) of the obverse of two Order of Ismail miniatures. Below is the illustration of the reverse (and obverse) of the 4th Class Knight Order of Ismail miniature from that same photo (although in my post of 10 November, 2018 I mistakenly identified this mini as the 4th Class "Officer" rather than Knight mini). This comes from a listing of a 8 January, 2020 auction by Heritage Auctions Europe (lot 4593) that is archived on the on the-saleroom.com website (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/mpo/catalogue-id-mpo-mu10002/lot-e12f6a1a-b1cf-4f13-8be2-ab3600ab5f08). The same 3rd Class Commander Order of Ismail miniature I illustrated here on 12 February, 2020 from the Liverpool Medals auction also is archived here as Lot 4592 from the same Heritage Suctions Europe auction of 8 January, 2020. I am illustrating the 4th Class miniature bellow as another image documenting the reverse of the mini showing the same 2-part construction fairly well as shown for the 3rd class example shown above (12 February). 

Obverse and reverse of the same 4th Class Order of Ismail miniature as shown in the right image (obverse only) of the high-resolution miniature per I illustrated here on 10 November, 2018. Although the above image from the-saleroom.com archived listing of the Heritage Auctions Europe 8 January 2020 auction (Lot 4593) is not a high-resolution photo (as is the sixbid.com image shown in my 10 November, 2018 post), details of the rosette and ribbon show this is the same miniature medal. Note the prominent red thread attaching the central portion of the rosette, and the folds of the wrapping of the margins of the rosette in the 5:30 and 11:30 positions. Also note the identical position of the small tear or hole in the superior margin of the folded part of the ribbon. 

[Rusty Greaves]

Here are 2 additional miniature medals from a 16 July, 2019 auction by Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG (eLive auction 55, Lot 2828) that is archived on the acsearch.info website (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6148390). 

Lot 2818 of this Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG July 2019 auction includes a miniature Persian Order of the Lion and the Sun and a miniature Egyptian Order of the Nile. The auction description identifies the Order of the Lion and the Sun as a 5th Class miniature made of silver and enamel, Order of the Nile mini as a 5th Class Knight, gold gilded with enamel. No dimensions are given for either medal, nor is there information on the manufacturers. 

[Rusty Greaves]

I recently came across a very odd duck of a miniature of the Order of the Nile. This example is from a current offering of Dixons Medals, SKU 1036054 (https://www.dixonsmedals.com/product/single-medals/order-of-the-nile-egypt-breast-badge-65mm-including-crown-suspension-x-41mm-chamber-of-senators-neck-badge-by-lattes-of-cario-63mm-silver-enamel-hallmarks-for-1927-28-severe-loss-of-green-enamel-wit/). This lot includes an Egyptian Parliamentary Chamber of Senators neck badge that has damage to several areas of the green enamel and is suspended from an incorrect ribbon. The Order of the Nile miniature is identified as measuring 65 mm high (including the crown suspension) X 45 mm wide. There is no maker’s mark nor any hallmarks on the reverse. 

Obverse of the Dixons Medals miniature Egyptian Order of the Nile. The most obvious difference in this miniature is the lack of the 5-armed white enameled star. This piece also appears to be inverted, note that the inscription on the central medallion is upside down. The “squared” and less-curving calligraphy of the inscription is similar to that on a few minis shown on this thread; for example, in the 6th photo of my post of 12 February, 2018 of a cased set of a 4th Class Officer breast badge and miniature (sans ribbon) from the Medal-Medaille auction website. It also may be similar to that on the miniature on the left in the photo of the Order of the Nile minis in my post of 22 July, 2018 from a Spink auction archived on the Saleroom.com website. The calligraphy of the inscription also resembles that on the Order of the Nile mini shown 2nd from left in my post of 23 March, 2020. Several other minis included in this thread with the single central inscription show more curved calligraphic forms than this example. However, the  more angular calligraphy is common on inscriptions of many (most?) full-sized Order of the Nile regalia. The anomalies of the crown suspension device (see the paragraph below the 2nd photo below) suggest it has been re-fit with a non-original crown and when that was done the badge was inadvertently inverted.

While most examples of Order of the Nile miniatures have faceting on all or most rays, this example only has faceting on the 10 main rays of the embellishment. Two other examples that also show faceting only on the 10 main rays of the embellishment include the example I illustrated in my post of April 2, 2018 from an auction listing of La Galerie Numismatique archived on the Sixbid.com website; and the one Owain illustrated in a group of 4 Belgian miniatures (upper image, 3rd from left) on 5 March, 2019.

Reverse of the same miniature Order of the Nile showing the oddly hollowed reverse of the crown suspension device and the unusual attachment of the body of the medal to that suspension device. Although the obverse of the crown suspension device appears to mostly adhere to the normal princely crown form (although e leaves are a bit usual as are the lateral margins of the 5 hoops), there are several anomalies in this portion of this mini. The ball at the superior portion of the crown supporting the crescent & star seems oddly large and the band of raised spheres is not an element normally seen on crowns of these (and other) kingdom-era medals. Most obviously on the obverse, the finish & detail of the crown seems incongruous different compared with the workmanship on the body of the medal. All other examples of Order of the Nile miniatures I have seen, and that are illustrated in reverse on this thread, show a solid struck crown suspension device. The above photo showing the hollow reverse of the crown, and the more extensive cut-out openings around the upper "headband" portion of the crown around the leaf designs and between the hoops. While several Order of the Nile minis do have some cut-outs around the crowns' hoops, they are much smaller than seen on this piece. It also notably lacks the normal form of link attachment between the body of the medal and the crown suspension device (also seen on all other minis of this order shown on this thread). The above photo shows the soldered attachment with a ring that attaches to the back of the crown, instead of the normal link. These several anomalies of the crown suggest to me that it is a more recent “repair”, and apparently this was done inexpertly so that the badge is now suspended upside down. 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I recently stumbled upon a very good portrait photo of an individual wearing the full-sized regalia of the Order of Ismail, as well as the miniature for this Order. This comes from a 22 June, 2021 auction by Woolley and Wallace (https://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/departments/medals-coins-arms-armour/ma060521/view-lot/29/), archived with lower-resolution images on the Drouot Digital website (https://www.gazette-drouot.com/lots/15319018), and high-resolution photos are archived with this listing on the saleroom.com website (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/woolley-and-wallis/catalogue-id-srwo10279/lot-8de16daa-647c-4e71-a699-ad3b010c7ff6#lotDetails). The Woolley and Wallace auction includes full-sized medals, a miniature medal bar, award documents, extra ribbons, a notebook journal from the Boer War, and the portrait photo of the individual associated with these items. All of the items in this auction Lot (29) belonged to Dr. James Ferguson Lees , CBE, who was the Director General of Public Health in Egypt (1920-1925). He also was the Acting Under Secretary of State from 1920-1922. The medal bar of miniatures is included in the same Spink & Sons case that houses all of Dr. Ferguson Lees full-sized awards. I posted about all of those items from the auction offering yesterday, 23 September, 2021, in the thread "Question about the Order of Ismail/Nishan-al-Ismail" here in the "Middle East & Arab States" section. I apologize for the redundancy of posting some of the same information here, but this auction lot had a very complete collection of medals and documents that represent very thoroughly detailed information and provenance for these 3 examples of Middle Eastern miniatures, and I felt I wanted to include them in this topic. 

 

 

Above is a moderate resolution photo of the Spink & Sons case holding all of the full-sized medals and medal bar of miniatures for Dr. J. Ferguson Lees. From L-R the full-sized awards are: an OBE Commander’s neck badge (Britannia type) with neck ribbon; the neck badge of the 2nd Class Grand Officer Order of Ismail (upper) with neck ribbon; the breast star of the 2nd Class Grand Officer Order of Ismail (lower); the full sized badges above the bar of miniatures are the Queen’s South Africa Medal (2nd type with 3 clasps: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, South Africa 1901); a 1914 star, British War Medal, and a Victory medal; a neck badge (probably of the 2nd Class Grand Officer Order of the Nile) with neck ribbon (upper); below that the is the breast star for the 2nd Class Order of the Nile; the 3rd Class Order of Medjidie with neck ribbon (upper); and below that a neck badge that is probably the 3rd Class Commander Order of the Nile. In the center lower row is the miniature medal bar, detailed in the photo and description below.  

 

 

Cropped moderate-resolution image showing a close-up view of the miniature medals of Dr. James Ferguson Lees. As noted above for the full-sized insignia, the miniatures on this medal bar represent, from L-R: the OBE; the Queen’s South Africa Medal with 3 clasps; a 1914 star, British War Medal; a Victory medal; the Order of Medjidie (with rosette); the Order of the Nile (with rosette but without the gold & silver galon for the 2nd Class award, it seems unlikely this mini would represent the 3rd Class Commander Class of this award); and the Order of Ismail (with rosette but lacking the appropriate gold & silver galon for this award). The miniature of the Order of Ismail should precede the Order of the Nile, as shown in Owain's 3 photos of King Farouk I's uniquely configured medal bars (with unusual forms of the Order of Ismail mini on 2 of those bars), shown as the 2nd-4th-to-last photos in my post of 31 October, 2020 on the thread "Question about the Order of Ismail/Nishan-al-Ismail".  The miniature of the Order of Ismail in Dr. J. Ferguson Lees' group is the most common form that I have previously illustrated with examples in other posts on this thread. 

 

 

High-resolution portrait photo of Dr. James Ferguson Lees wearing his Egyptian Order of Ismail neck badge, the Order of Ismail breast star (upper star on Dr. Ferguson Lees’ right chest that is partially visible), and the 2nd Class Order of the Nile breast star (the lower partially visible breast star on the right chest). He also wears the miniature medal bar with all of the medals noted above. This photo can be zoomed for additional details. The Order of Ismail miniature is at the viewer’s far right in this image, James  Ferguson Lee was born 29 January, 1872 and died 12 January, 1935. The auction information further states that Dr. Ferguson Lees: “…served in the South African War on the Hospital Ship Spartan, at a base hospital in the East End of London, and in the field attached to the 1st Battalion Connaught Rangers. Having become an M.D. in 1902, he joined the Egyptian Government Service as Port Health Officer for Alexandria in 1908, rising to become Director General in 1920, and acting as Under-Secretary of State from July to October 1920. He served in the Great War as Inspector of Prisoner of War Camps in Egypt, E.E.F.”

Edited September 25, 2021 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I probably should not have previously included some miniatures of Ottoman awards in past posts here (especially that of 20 January, 2019 that featured 3 examples of the Order of Osmanieh minis and several Order of Medjidie minis), technically these ought to be under Turkey in Europe. I must have been looking at the Ottoman awards through Egypt-colored glasses overemphasizing Ottoman influence there. As I have already poisoned the waters here with Ottoman minis, I will add just a couple more today. 

 

 

Moderate-resolution photo of an uncommon example of a miniature of the Ottoman Order of Glory, (Iftikhar Nişanı). This mini comes from a past Spink Auction, 17300, Lot 176 (https://www.spink.com/lot/17003000176). The auction description provides the measurements 18 mm wide x 150 mm tall, and the materials as gold, silver, and 55 chip diamonds. This version of the award is based on the more common type 1 form. The full-sized awards exhibits two main variant forms. See the The Valka military history website's descriptions and images of the different forms of the full-sized version this award (https://www.valka.cz/Rad-slavy-t82564). I also included a good-resolution image of a full-sized type 2 form of this award in my post of 14 November, 2021 discussing the awards worn in several portraits of the Egyptian Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, in the thread "Egyptian Khedive commemorative medal" started on 11 November, 2016 in the "Middle East & Arab States" section. The Valka website states that variation in the form of the full-sized award was common (principally referring to the type 1 version the is seen in the more common online images of this award) as no formal decree ever stipulated precise design parameters. Individual court jewelers interpreted the general design and ornamentation as they pleased.  

 

 

Moderate resolution of an unusual version of a miniature Order of Medjidie with brilliants. This example comes from an 8 February, 2021 auction by eMedals, Item: M0456-1 (https://www.emedals.com/ottoman-empire-an-order-of-medjidjie-i-class-miniature-in-diamonds). The description identifies this as a 1st Class miniature of this order. The materials are identified as silver, with a gold central medallion framed in a red enameled border with inscriptions, and diamond chips. The central medallion is oriented ~90-100 deg from the correct orientation. Note that the tugs of the Sultan's tugra in the central medallion are pointed to the right instead of being uppermost, the beyze is uppwards rather than on the left, and the hançer point to the 7:00 position rather than to the right. The eMedals description gives the dimensions as 12.24 mm wide x 28.69 mm tall, and it weighs 1.4 g. The listing states that the stones mounted in the crescent (of the crescent & star element) include 1 ruby and that 2 are missing (It appear there are 3 empty mounts in this element, is the 1 ruby loose?, perhaps it is just the resolution of the image that makes a stone difficult to see). One diamond is missing from the center of the ornamented lower portion of the suspension loop. 

 

 

Oblique view of the obverse of the same Order of Medjidie miniature from eMedals February 2021 auction. 

 

 

Moderate-resolution of the unmarked reverse of this same eMedals Order of Medjidie miniature. The description notes that there appears to be glue on the reverse of the crescent and str suspension. Is the loop suspension a later repair (the view on the obverse above also suggests this)? 

 

Edited December 5, 2021 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Here is a postcard image of the Austrian composer Johann Baptist Strauss II, known as Johann Strauss Jr., the “Waltz King”, showing him wearing a miniature of the Order of Medjidie on the chain on his lapel, along with two round medals I cannot identify. He also wears the full-sized neck badge of the Ottoman Order of Medjidie (probably the 3rd Class, although Wikipedia and the many online bios that borrow wiki “information” repeat the allegation he was awarded the 4th Class, although that would be a breast badge).  There are several photos of Johann Strauss the Younger wearing miniature medals on a chain. However, this portrait of him as a young man has the best detail of any online images I've encountered showing any of his miniature medals, especially this Order of Medjidie. Again, I apologize for cluttering this thread with this Ottoman mini, but this is a good photo of a well-known individual wearing this miniature. The portrait shown below may date to approximately 1850, based on the similarity to other portraits of Strauss the Younger showing a similar hairstyle and wearing only mustaches and not a chin strip with mustaches by 1853, and his more elaborate sideburns and mustaches, that are well documented at least as early as 1870.

 

 

This image is from a from a current eMedals offering of this postcard (95 mm x 138 mm), Item: EU7487: https://www.emedals.com/johann-strauss-ii-with-turkish-awards-postcard-eu7487. The image can be zoomed for additional detail. Among the awards that I can find listed that Johann Strauss Jr. received are: the Order of Franz Josef (Imperial Austria); Knight of the Legion of Honor (France); Knight of the Order of the Lion and Sun (Persia); and the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (Russian Empire). As noted, several other portrait photos of Johann Strauss II show him with many more miniature medals on his lapel chain than this postcard does (those later portraits appear to show up to 12). I do not know the dates of any of these awards. Johann Strauss II sided with the revolutionaries during the nationalist revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, while his father remained loyal to the monarchy. This political position angered his father (the composer Johann Strauss I) and further aggravated their estrangement over J. Strauss II's decision to pursue a career as a musician and composer. Johann Strauss the Younger's support for nationalist ideals caused professional disadvantages for himself, and he eventually made a show of supporting the monarchy of Franz Josef I (enthroned after the 1848 revolution), writing several patriotic marches dedicated Franz Josef I in what is considered a strategy to ingratiate himself with the Habsburg Emperor (i.e., the Franz Joseph Marsch, Op.67, published in 1850).  

Edited February 23, 2022 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

Below are images from a 30 July, 2021 auction offering by Spink of 3 Egyptian miniatures executed with very abbreviated forms of their design compared with the design & execution of other examples of these two miniature medals. As I have not seen other examples of these distinctly less-detailed and less-carefully crafted minis, it seems likely that they were uncommon variants of the miniature Order of the Republic and the Republic-era Order of the Nile. These 3 pieces from the  2021 Spink auction are probably the work of a different workshop than those represented by other ateliers' miniatures (that are seldom attributed to particular makers). I have illustrated below a few other examples of miniatures of the two orders represented to show the more common forms of the more-detailed designs of the miniature medals for the of Egyptian Order of the Republic and Order of the Nile medals.  

 

 

Above is a moderate-resolution image from a past Spink auction (Catalogue 21002, Lot 368) that is archived on the Lot-Art website (https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/Egypt-Republic-Order-of-the-Nile-Badge-2-18mm-silver-gilt-and-enamel-Order-of-the-Repub/368-egypt_republic-29.7.21-spink). From L - R: a Republic era Order of the Republic, 1st Class with the rosette and an overly-wide gold braid (probably silver gilt & enamel, medal diameter=19 mm); 2 identical examples of a republic version of the Order of the Nile (silver-gilt & enamel, diameter=18 mm).  All of the designs on these are much abbreviated forms on22 these miniatures (see other shown examples below). The photo can be enlarged for some greater drtails. The Order of the Republic is suspended from an incorrect ribbon (see correct ribbons below). The rayed embellishment of this Order of the Republic is much larger, relative to the other design elements, than the 2 previous examples of this mini I have posted on this thread (that I have illustrated below), and has more indistinct "rays" compared with other examples as well. This Spink mini combines the dark blue enamel on the arms of the central design with a ring of lighter blue enamel of an adaptation of the border of the central medallion that includes water symbolism on the full-sized award. These blue arms also are proportionally much shorter than seen on other minis of the Order of the Republic. The designs on each arm are executed with different ornamentation than the other minis and the full-sized versions of this award. The calligraphy in the central red enameled boss medallion also is much more abbreviated than on the other miniatures of the Order of the Republic. The 2 identically-executed Republic period Order of the Nile miniatures exhibit only a schematic version of the form of the central design that represents the union of binding Upper and Lower Egypt together (see example below). These 2 medals are suspended from the correct ribbon, although they lack the lotus suspension device seen on many minis of this Order. The rayed embellishment has a much rounder outline compared with the clearly pentagonal embellishment of other miniatures and the sash badge/neck badges of the full-sized Republic period award (the full-sized breast stars do have a more rounded outline and the doubled ray at each of the 5 corners of the rounded pentagon, as also seen above on each of these 2 minis). The form of the rays and background of the embellisment are based on the design of this element on full-sized pieces and does

not resemble the faceted rays on other minis of the Order of the Nile. No manufacturers are identified for these miniatures. 

 

 

Above is an example of a Republic-era Order of the Republic from a 23 November, 2013  auction listing on the Liveauctioneers website, Lot 0214. It is identified as silver gilt, 17 mm in diameter, with original suspension ring, ribbon, & rosette with braid (galon) exhibiting gold on L and silver on R, correct for the Grand Officer Class. Unknown maker. This example was identified as Type II, a variant of the post-1958 designs. I am only minimally familiar with some the variations in the full-sized version of this award, and do not know if miniatures exhibit comparable design/execution variation. I previously illustrated this mini in my post of 23 April, 2018 on this thread. That post includes illustrations of Type I and Type II full-sized awards. Here, the description as Type II probably refers to the dark blue enamel on this piece. Note the distinct individual rays of the embellishment and its smaller size than on the Spink example. The central element surrounding the red enameled central boss has probably been rotated out of its original orientation. While the calligraphy appears to be in the correct orientation, one of the blue-enameled arms should be in the 12:00 position. This mini exhibits the correct ribbon for this medal (unlike the Spink example above from the Lot-Art website). 

 

 

Above is a low-resolution image of another example of a Republic era Order of the Republic miniature with the contrasting light blue enamel on the arms of the central design. The rosette and silver braid (galon) indicates this is the 3rd Class of this award. This is a Type I example with the "lily" (papyrus?) suspension device and the lighter blue color enamel on the decorated 5 arms & the enameled ring round the central medallion. "Length" (including the ribbon)=7.1cm; Height=1.1 cm x width (including suspension)=0.4 cm; Weight=3.48 g. From the Spurlock Museum (https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1971.15.3234), artifact identification #: 1971.15. 3234. (identified incorrectly in the catalogue as: "Egypt, miniature Victory Star"). Unknown manufacturer. This example also has the correct ribbon. There are 2 other examples of miniature Order of the Republic medals with the same overall format and design as those from the the Spurlock Museum and Liveauctioneers websites, one in gold the other in silver both with incorrect ribbons, in the 2nd photo of my post of 10 November, 2018 on this thread. These 2 minis from a 2014 auction by H. D. Rauch (Lot 4682) have suspension devices in the form of the Republic's Eagles of Salidan, slightly different forms of the decoration within the 5 blue-enameled arms, a different form of the central red enamel bossed central medallion's calligraphic inscription, and a thin line of silver or gold in the blue enameled band surrounding the central medallion. The Liveauctioneers example, Lot 0214, the Spurlock Museum example, #: 1971.15. 3234, both shown above, and the 2 Rauch (Lot 4682) minis represent three different forms of the design execution of miniature Order of the Republic medals, but all much more similar to each other than to the Spink example curated on the Lot-Art website listing for Auction 21002, Lot 368 shown in the first photo of this post. 

 

 

Above is a very high-resolution image of the more normal Republic-era Order of the Nile miniature (silver, partly gilt, 25 mm tall [including with lotus suspension device] x 20 mm wide). This image comes from a former La Galerie Numismatique past auction listing. No manufacturer is identified for this mini. I first included this image (and a discussion of the Ancient Egyptian symbolism on the full-sized and miniature versions of this Republic award) in my post of 7 March, 2018 on this thread. I recently reprised that discussion of the symbolism in a post of 7 April, 2022 in response to a recent thread started by Elmar Lang on 4 April, 2022 featuring a Republic version Grand Cordon example of the Order of the Nile ("Egypt, Republic, Order of the Nile, awarded to Prof. Amintore Fanfane, Former Itlay's Prime Minister", here in the "Middle East & Arab States" section). Note the papyrus-motifs on the suspension device. As discussed in my 7 April post (and previous 2018 post on this thread), the central symbolism is the unification of Upper & Lower Egypt binding lotus and papyrus stems around a form of a symbol for the lungs attached to the trachea, which is the hieroglyphic symbol sema representing "union". Additional examples with the same design seen above are: a 2nd Class mini (rosette & gold & silver braid) on a bar of miniatures in my post of 14 January, 2019; shown as a 1st Class miniature (with rosette and gold braid) on a bar in Owain's post of 8, March 2018; in Owain's post of 10 December 2017; and in the 2nd photo in Owain's post of 12 December, 2017 on this thread.  The design in the central medallion of the 2 examples from Spink's  Auction 21002, Lot 368, uses only indentations to mark the general position of the lotus and papyrus stems and probably some other components of the sema design element. The Spink image is not high-enough resolution to distinguish if or what kind of treatment of the two figures has been done in those highly stylized central medallion designs. 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I am illustrating below a miniature Order of the Nile (Kingdom-era) from an upcoming October 15 auction (Auction 55) by La Galerie Numismatique (Lot 1012), that is listed on the liveauctioneers website (https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/136854420_order-of-the-nile). 

 

 

Here is a high-resolution image of a miniature of the Order of the Nile from an upcoming October 15, 2022 auction by La Galerie Numismatique (Lot 1012). The description gives its measurements as 24 mm x 15 mm and its materials as silver, gilt, and enamel. It appears that the 3-4 central superior rays have been broken off. No photo of the reverse is provided in the auction listing. The form of this example is similar to one I illustrated in the 2nd - 3rd photos of my post of 14 February, 2018 on this thread from a contemporary UK eBay listing. The abbreviated inscription on the central medallion shown above from the La Galerie Numismatique offering is similar to that on the 2018 eBay example shown in my 14 February, 2018 post, but is thicker than on that eBay miniature. The crown is identical to that eBay example. The above mini also resembles an example I illustrated from a Spink auction of 24 July, 2018 (Lot 743) as the image on the viewer’s right in my post here of 22 July, 2018 (archived on the salesroom.com website). The central portion of the rayed embellishment on that Order of the Nile mini from Lot 743 is a bit different and the given measurements are a bit larger (the 2018 Spink example measured 35 mm x 20 mm; and there is a circular configuration of the central portion of the embellishment under the central star). The inscription is similar to the Spink mini, although again, the calligraphy of the inscription of this La Galerie Numismatique example also is much thicker, but still elegant. The crown suspension device seen above also is identical to both the 2018 eBay and Spink examples. This La Galerie Numimatiqie example also appears similar to one that Owain illustrated in the 1st photo of his post of 11 December, 2017 (upper row far right).

 

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Rusty Greaves

[Rusty Greaves]

I came across the same miniature Order of the Nile as shown above in my most recent post of 27 September, 2022 that includes a photo  of the reverse. This comes from a current (?) auction by The Armory of Saint James’s that is listed on the The British Antique Dealers’ Society website (https://www.bada.org/object/egypt-order-nile-1920). 

 

 

Photo of the obverse of the same miniature Order of the Nile as illustrated previously on 27 September, showing the same three broken rays at the superior end of the rayed embellishment. This is a slightly higher resolution (or more focused) image of the obverse of this mini than the one above. Unlike the previous photo of this mini, this image shows damage to the enamel at the distal tip of the star arm in the 8:30 position. When enlarged, the 27 September photo may show a crack in the enamel at the distal end of that arm, 

 

 

Photo of the reverse of this miniature. This shows the unusual full decoration on the reverse of the crown suspension element that is identical to the form of the crown on the obverse. Both this image and the one above of the obverse can be enlarged for greater detail. No maker's mark is apparent. 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Rusty Greaves