Orders of Portugal, Order of the Tower and Sword, Plate LVIII, 1844

This is an original antique wood engraving, colored by hand, showing Portuguese insignia. At the upper left, item 10 is a gold star with five white points between green wreaths, topped by a small tower, its center a blue ring around a sword and laurel wreath on white. At the lower left, item 11 is the badge of the same design hung by its tower from a blue ribbon, with its round reverse drawn below: a blue ring around an open book, the left page showing a crowned shield and the right page lettered. At the upper right, item 13 is a crowned gold and white Maltese cross with gold wreaths and four dark ovals between the arms, centered on a small red cross, on a red ribbon with a gold-framed bar. At the lower right, item 12 is the red cross of the Order of Christ, with its inner white cross, on a red ribbon.

The running head reads "PORTUGAL." and the plate number "LVIII." The blue ring of item 10 is lettered "VALOR LEALDADE E MERITO." (valor, loyalty and merit), the motto of the Order of the Tower and Sword, and the same words appear on item 11. The reverse of item 11 reads "PELO REI E PELA LEI." (for the king and for the law) around the book, whose right page is lettered "CARTA CONS TITU CIONAL DAMO", broken over five lines (constitutional charter), beneath an "R". The items are numbered 10 to 13 below.

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 tower star and the constitutional charter medallion make a striking pair.

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