131 Königreich Polen: Orden vom Weißen Adler, Exemplar aus der Regierungszeit König König Stanislaw II. August (Poniatowski) .
Silver lacquer and sequins. Partially gilt. Wrapping paper missing. A particularly finely executed example of the best embroidery quality. Minor signs of wear due to age.
Splendid example from the end of the 18th century. Diameter. 74 mm.
Under the Saxon electors on the Polish throne, Augustus the Strong and Frederick Augustus II, the Order had the de facto character of a house order of the Wettins.
Augustus the Strong died in 1733 and only appointed around 40 Knights of the White Eagle before his death. Augustus III, son of Augustus the Strong, reigned from 1733 to 1763. The all-powerful minister HeinrichGraf von Brühl reigned in Poland and Saxony. Around 330 conferments are made, 160 of them in the last decade of Augustus III's reign.
On 25 November 1764, the day of Stanisław Poniatowski's coronation, only three new knights were appointed - Prince Adam-Kazimierz Czartoryski, Prince Michał Poniatowski, brother of the new king, and the Russian ambassador, Prince Nikolaj Repnin.
Under the reign of the last King of Poland, Stanisław II. August, the first statutes of the Order were drawn up in 1777. The number of Knights of the Order was limited to 150, with the exception of "Us, the Grand Master, lords and princes who rule in foreign lands, deserving and honourable foreigners or those who are specially recommended to Us, and finally knights who have been appointed by Our predecessors". The candidate for the order had to have eight noble ancestors on the sword and spindle side. A chapter of the order was created with a chancellor, vice-chancellor, almoner and treasurer. Knights were required to pay 50 Polish guilders (złoty) on admission to the order, and the annual charity fee was nine guilders, one of which was used to cover the burial costs of deceased knights. In 1789, the admission fee was increased to the high sum of 100 Polish guilders.
In 1807, after a twelve-year break, the King of Saxony and Duke of Warsaw Frederick Augustus I appointed two new knights to the order. The Order was awarded very sparingly in the Duchy of Warsaw, with a total of around ten awards up to 1815.
Only very few original examples from the 18th century have survived.
A specimen of great rarity and, considering its age, in excellent condition.