43 Österreich: Bruststern zum Großkreuz des Militär - Maria - Theresien - Ordens - verliehen an Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Silver, the medallion gold and enamel. On pin. The edging of the cross arms and the laurel wreath between the cross arms separately appliquéd in gold and affixed to the back with gold screws.
The inscription ring in a particularly fine, high-domed design. The order motto ‘FORTITUDINI’ separately applied to the inscription ring in gold letters.
The translucent red enamel of the medallion and the green enamel of the laurel wreath with a fine guilloche pattern on the background.
A magnificent piece of the very finest old Austrian jewellery quality from around 1860. It is likely that the star was returned to the Chancellery of the Order after the death of the recipient and then reissued.
This particular example was awarded to the German Emperor Wilhelm II on 27 August 1914.
The breast star was auctioned off at Sotheby's in Geneva in 1995, along with other orders and decorations belonging to Kaiser Wilhelm II.
After his abdication in 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II spent the rest of his life at Doorn Castle in the Netherlands. He died in 1941.
A document dated June 1943 proves that part of his estate, including medals and decorations, was moved from Doorn to Berlin. It states ‘1 hat box with old medals..., 2 small suitcases with medals of H.M.’.
In 1950, 21 decorations and 67 other items that had belonged to Wilhelm II reappeared in Berlin and were offered by Mrs Paetzold, later Mrs Klietmann, the owner of the company ‘Die Ordenssammlung’ (The Decorations Collection), to the British collector Major E.A. Jeffries, M.B.E., M.C., for the princely sum of 4,000 German Marks.
Jeffries was unable to raise this sum, however, and instead purchased a part of the awards at a price of DM 2,000. In his records, he describes the estate as ‘remnants of the orders from the collection of Kaiser Wilhelm II’. The receipt for the purchase of the orders, dated 6 May 1950, has also been preserved.
After Jeffries had exported the orders with the permission of the Mayor of Berlin, he exhibited them publicly on various occasions, as evidenced by numerous newspaper clippings. The collection was then sold and finally came into the possession of the well-known British collector Michael Forman in 1968.
Forman did extensive research on the history of the decorations and published his findings in the brochure ‘Kaiser Wilhelm II. - The Adventures of his Orders and Medals’.
The orders, including the Grand Cross Star of the Military Maria Theresa Order offered here, were exhibited at Windsor Castle in Great Britain in 1988 to mark the 100th anniversary of Wilhelm II's accession to the throne.
Included with the lot is a notarised document dated 13 August 2007 concerning the sale of several orders from the estate of Wilhelm II from the Sotheby's Geneva auction collection to the current owner, including the breast star offered here.
Probably the most important breast star of the Military Order of Maria Theresa to have come onto the market to date.
Provenance:
- Major E.A. Jeffries, M.B.E., M.C.,U.K.
- Collection Michael Forman, London, U.K.
- George Seymour Collection, Woodstock, VT, USA
- Sotheby's Geneva. Objects of Vertu, Orders and Decorations, Russian Works of Art and Fabergé, 16 - 18 May 1995, Lot 120.
- Private collection, USA