Close-ups
Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the piece could look; it is sold unframed unless the description says otherwise.
Orders of Portugal, Order of the Tower and Sword, Plate LVIII, 1844
£250
$330 · €295
Original print, not a reproduction.
Ships worldwide from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked. 14-day returns.
- Date
- 1844
- Technique
- Wood Engraving
- Coloring
- Hand colored
- Condition
- Good. Light wear to the bottom right and top left corners. Age toning, darker at the edges; handling soiling along the edges and scattered foxing in the margins. Printed image clean.
- Collection
- Uniforms & regiments
- Era
- 1816 to 1899, Empire and industry
- Stock no.
- BG-13055-65
What the condition grades mean
- Excellent
- Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
- Very good
- Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
- Good
- Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
- Fair
- Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
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.
Condition: Light wear to the bottom right and top left corners. Age toning, darker at the edges; handling soiling along the edges and scattered foxing in the margins. Printed image clean.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
