Orders of the Netherlands, Military William Order, Plate LII, 1844

This is an original antique wood engraving, colored by hand, showing Dutch insignia. At the upper left, item 1 is a silver eight-pointed star with a white, gold-edged cross between green oak branches at its center. At the upper right, item 4 is a star with a cross of silver points, a green oak wreath tied with a gold bow and a red ring around a crowned Gothic W on green. At the left, item 2 is the white cross with oak branches under a crown lined in red. On the right, item 5 is a gold-edged white cross with a crowned Gothic W on a green center, on an orange ribbon with green stripes. Below in the center, item 3 is the crowned white cross on an orange ribbon with blue stripes, with its blue reverse medallion showing a script W in a laurel wreath.

The running head reads "PAYS-BAS." and the plate number "LII." The arms of the crosses on items 1, 2 and 3 are lettered "VOOR MOED BELEID TROUW" (for courage, leadership, loyalty), the motto of the Military William Order. The red ring of item 4 reads "JE MAINTIENDRAI." (I will maintain). Each piece has its number 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 plate pairs naturally with the other two Netherlands plates in the book, or stands alone as a study of the Dutch military order.

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