Brunswick Medals, Waterloo, Peninsula and Crosses of 1809, Plate XVIII, 1844

This is an original antique wood engraving, colored by hand, showing military crosses and medals of the Duchy of Brunswick. At the top left two crosses hang from one light blue ribbon (9): a bronze cross and a gold cross, each in a green wreath, the gold one with a small running horse at its center. At the top right a red cross edged in gold with a crowned monogram in a white center (7) hangs by a laurel loop from a blue ribbon with yellow stripes; a small gold disk numbered 25 (8) sits beside it. In the middle row two medals hang from one pink ribbon (10), a silver medal with a trophy of arms and flags and a bronze medal with a laurel wreath, and a silver medal on a green ribbon (12) shows a winged figure holding a palm above a trophy of arms. At the foot the two faces of a bronze medal hang from a yellow and light blue ribbon (11), one with the date 1815 in a wreath, the other with the bust of a duke in a cap.

The running head reads "BRUNSWICK." and the plate number "XVIII.". The bronze cross 9 reads "FUR TREUE 1809 UND TAPFERKEIT" (for loyalty and bravery, 1809), the gold cross "CAHL ERIEORICH AUCUST WILLHELM" as cut. The bronze medal 10 reads "PENINSULA", medal 12 "MUTHIGER THATEN EHRENDER LOHN." (honoring reward of courageous deeds). Medal 11 carries miscut black letter legends dedicating it from Brunswick to its warriors for Quatre Bras and Waterloo, with the date 1815, and on the other face naming Duke Friedrich Wilhelm.

The plate comes from Ordres de Chevalerie et Marques d'Honneur, published by Auguste Wahlen and issued in Brussels by the Librairie Historique-Artistique, rue de Schaerbeek, 12, in 1844. Auguste Wahlen was the pen name of the Belgian writer Jean-François-Nicolas Loumyer (1801 to 1875), whose title page lists his own knighthoods in orders of Prussia, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Hanover, Greece, the Roman States, Saxe-Coburg and Brazil.

With its Waterloo medal this plate makes an apt companion to Napoleonic and military prints.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.