Knight of the Garter, King Leopold I, Hand Colored Wood Engraving, 1844

An original antique wood engraving, colored by hand with watercolor, showing King Leopold I of the Belgians standing full length in the robes of a Knight of the Order of the Garter. He wears a long dark blue mantle lined in white and thrown back from the shoulders, with a crimson hood falling over the shoulder at the left and white ribbon bows on both shoulders. Beneath it are a white slashed doublet and puffed trunk hose studded with gold, a crimson sash at the waist, and the gold collar of the order across the chest, with heavy gold cords ending in a large tassel. His hand at the left rests on the hilt of a sword in a crimson scabbard; at the right he holds a black hat dressed with a mass of white ostrich plumes and a dark aigrette. He wears white stockings and white shoes with rosettes, a rosette at the knee on the left, and the garter buckled below the knee on the right. He stands on a green ground with hatched shadow behind, inside a printed border of double rules with ornamental corner pieces.

Below the image the plate is captioned "COSTUME DE CHEVALIER DE L'ORDRÉ DE LA JARRETIÈRE." (Costume of a Knight of the Order of the Garter), with a second line in smaller letters, "(Le Roi Léopold Ier.)" (King Leopold I). The garter at the knee is lettered "MAL·Y·P", the visible part of the Garter motto. The plate carries no plate number and no signatures.

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.

The bordered composition and the strong blue and crimson coloring suit a simple frame with a plain mat.

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