Lot n° 244
Estimation :
10000 - 12000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 10 000EUR
Order of the Legion of Honor - First Empire... - Lot 244 - Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés
Order of the Legion of Honor - First Empire / Restoration - Jewel of great eagle of the 1st type, gold star with five double branches with white enamelled points, angled with fruited branches of oak and laurel linked to the base without waves, the centers modified under the Restoration, that of obverse in three parts slightly curved with the profile of Henri IV laureate on the left in cuirass and sash of command, amatized bottom, complete legend "HENRY IVI ROI DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE."The reverse side is in two parts with the arms of France surrounded by the legend of the order "HONOUR AND PATRY" with a quatrefoil and a palmette in exergue on either side of a six-petal flower, the upper branch surmounted by a trestle in the form of a pi slightly flared at the base, surmounted by an oval hoop attached to a royal crown with arches and the hoop decorated with fleur-de-lys of the First Restoration type (missing a cheekbone, two formerly refixed, scratches and small chips to the enamels, bridge slightly veiled, hoop of the jewel shortened in width to allow the passage in the crown whose barrel was also modified, system of connection between the cross and the crown missing).
73 x 67,5 (without the crown), gross weight : 60,05 g
France, first quarter of the 19th century.
This jewel concentrates rare characteristics: the star is similar to that of the 1st type of Jean-Étienne-Marie Portalis, grand eagle on February 1, 1805, the only difference being in the placement of the two elements of the laurel branch, which are reversed (catalogue of November 24, 2012, Maison de vente Leclere, Marseille, Jean-Claude Dey expert, lot no. 51); the legend on the reverse, whose diameter is smaller than that of the obverse, is identical to that of the jewel of Marshal Ney modified during the Hundred Days, particularly in its very particular punctuation (jewel preserved since 2012 at the Musée national de la Légion d'honneur et des ordres de chevalerie); the royal crown is of the model attributed to the goldsmith Biennais found on the jewels said to be from the First Restoration (see the jewels of Count Simeon illustrated in Jean-Pierre Collignon, Orders of knighthood, decorations and medals of France, p. 208 and that of Mgr de Barral, catalogue of the sale of 5 December 2018, "Collection de Monsieur X.", Audap&Mirabaud, Drouot, lot no. 70); finally, this crown not benefiting from a suitable suspension system probably comes as a replacement for an imperial crown added in April 1806 to conform to the new model adopted by Napoleon. If these particularities do not allow us to attribute this jewel to a particular dignitary, we can however affirm that it was given in 1805 and that its successive modifications faithfully testify to the eventful history of the end of the Empire and the Bourbon Restoration.
TB
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