About this sheet
An original antique wood engraving, colored by hand with watercolor, showing eight insignia of Austria. At the upper left is a silver star (5), its red center with a gold double cross on a crown over a green mount between the letters M and T. At the upper right is a white cross (2) with green laurel and a gold beaded border, its center striped red, white and red. In the middle row are a green cross edged in gold (6 et 7), hung from the Hungarian crown on a green and red striped ribbon, with a small lettered disc beneath; the gold badge of the Golden Fleece (1) on a red ribbon, with a blue scroll, a red flint and the golden ram; and a white cross (3) on a red and white ribbon, with the same striped center and a monogram disc (4) below. At the foot is a gold collar (8) of pierced links and blue stones.
The plate is headed "AUTRICHE." (Austria) at the upper left and numbered "III." at the upper right, with items 1 to 8. The Golden Fleece badge (1) is lettered "PRETIVM LABORVM NONVILE" (No mean reward for labors), the motto of the Fleece. The green cross carries a Latin legend beginning "PUBLICUM·MERITORIUM" around its red center, and the disc beneath reads "STO STRI AP"; with the Hungarian crown and double cross, these mark the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary. The white cross (3) is lettered "FORTITVDINI" (To bravery), the motto of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, and the cross (2) carries the same word, its first letter miscut.
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. Small light flecks in the image, otherwise 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.
