Orders of Portugal, Badge of the Three Military Orders, Plate LVI, 1844

This is an original antique wood engraving, colored by hand, showing insignia of the Portuguese military orders. At the upper left, item 2 is a silver breast star with a flaming red heart and a cross above it, and at its gold-bordered center the red cross of the Order of Christ above the red sword-shaped cross of Santiago and the green fleury cross of Aviz. At the upper right, item 3 is a similar star with the green fleury cross alone at its center. In the middle, item 1 is a crowned oval gold badge worked with acanthus, set with three small ovals holding the same three crosses, on a ribbon in red, green and purple. Below, items 4 and 5 are green fleury crosses on green ribbons, item 4 hung beneath a small gold star with the flaming heart.

The running head reads "PORTUGAL" and the plate number "LVI." The pieces carry no inscriptions; they are numbered 1 to 5 in small figures below. The three crosses, the cross of Christ with its inner white cross, the sword cross of Santiago and the green fleury cross of Aviz, are the long-established emblems of these three orders.

The plate comes from Ordres de Chevalerie et Marques d'Honneur, published by Auguste Wahlen at Brussels, Librairie Historique-Artistique, rue de Schaerbeek, 12, in 1844; the half title reads 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 plates are relief prints, wood engravings colored by hand with watercolor.

The green ribbons and the gold three-order badge make an attractive, balanced plate that suits any collection of Iberian subjects.

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