About this sheet
An original antique wood engraving, colored by hand with watercolor, showing nine Austrian crosses and medals. At the upper left is a large gold cross (25) on a yellow ribbon with black stripes; at the top center a gold medal (31) on a red ribbon, with a laureate portrait in profile; at the upper right an outline Maltese cross (23). The center holds a white Maltese cross (24) edged in gold, with gold ornament between the arms, under a crown, hung from a black ribbon by a trophy of arms. At the right are a silver medal (27) lettered within a wreath and a gold medal (28) with a laureate profile, both on white ribbons striped red. At the left are a white cross (29) on a yellow and white ribbon and a bronze colored cross (30) on a green wreath and a black and yellow ribbon. At the foot is a gold collar link (26), a crown between laurel sprays and a monogram.
The plate is headed "AUTRICHE." (Austria) at the upper left and numbered "VI." at the upper right, with items 23 to 31. The gold cross (25) is lettered "GRATI PRINCEPSETPATRIA FRANC IMP-AUG" (The grateful prince and fatherland, Francis, Emperor, Augustus), and the bronze cross (30) carries the same legend with miscut letters, ending "IMPAUC". The white cross (29) reads "EUROPAE LIBERTA TE ASSERTA" (The liberty of Europe asserted), with two lines of roman numerals below. The silver medal (27) reads "DEN TAPFERHEIT" (For bravery), the gold medal (28) "JOSEPH:II", and the gold medal (31) "FRACISCUS AUST IMP·HUN BOH GAL·LOD·REX·A·A" (Francis, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Galicia and Lodomeria).
The plate comes from Ordres de Chevalerie et Marques d'Honneur, published in Brussels in 1844 by the Librairie Historique-Artistique, rue de Schaerbeek, 12, with the title page reading "publié par Auguste Wahlen"; the half title is Histoire, costumes, décorations de tous les ordres de chevalerie, et marques d'honneur. Auguste Wahlen was the pen name of the Belgian writer Jean-François-Nicolas Loumyer (1801 to 1875), and the title page lists his own knighthoods in orders of Prussia, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Hanover, Greece, the Roman States, Saxe-Coburg and Brazil.
Condition: Age toning, darker at the edges; handling soiling along the edges and scattered foxing in the margins. Printed image clean.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
