Rare jewel of the Order of the Elephant, with the monogram of King Christian VII (1766-1808). COLLECTION PHILIPPE MISSILLIER, Étude Giquello, Drouot - salles 5-6, les 6 & 7 mars 2025
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PHILIPPE MISSILLIER COLLECTION
EARLY PERIOD – BOOKS – 17th CENTURY FIREARMS
HUNTING ART – PHALERISTICS
18th AND 19th CENTURY WEAPONS – RUSSIAN ART
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 11am to 12pm
AFRICA AND OCEANIA – FAR EAST
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 2pm
ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART
Drouot - rooms 5-6
EXHIBITION:
Tuesday, March 4, from 11am to 6pm
Wednesday, March 5, from 11am to 6pm
Thursday, March 6, from 11am to 12pm
Phone during the exhibition +33(0)1 48 00 20 05
GIQUELLO
Alexandre Giquello
Violette Stcherbatcheff
5, rue La Boétie - 75008 Paris
+33 (0)1 47 42 78 01 - info@giquello.net
o.v.v. approval
No. 2002 389
CONTACT:
Claire Richon
+33(0)1 47 70 48 00
c.richon@giquello.net
EXPERT:
Jean-Christophe Palthey, Expert SFEP
+41 (0)79 107 89 96
jc.palthey@gmail.com
Lot No. 177 (from the sale)
Rare jewel of the Order of the Elephant, Barokenelefanten, with the monogram of King Christian VII (1766-1808)
Stylized elephant in gilded copper with white enamel, pink enameled raised trunk, eyes and forehead set with Rhinestones,
on its back a fringed blue carpet adorned with flowers and scrolls, decorated on the right side with a large Greek cross set with
five Rhinestones and on the left side with the painted monogram "C7" under a wide royal crown. It is topped with a tower
decorated in enamel painting of a masonry of pink stones and a door, the base and top of the tower are set
with a circle of small stones. It is surmounted by a pivoting ring decorated with flowers. A small Moorish mahout holding a
spear is seated above its head.
Accidents, losses, and usual restorations
H. 78 mm - L. 60 mm - W. 28 mm - Weight: 67.75 g.
Denmark, last quarter of the 18th century
60,000/80,000 €
Provenance:
- Former collections of the American Numismatic Society, New York, USA, dispersed during the sale organized by Morton & Eden and Sotheby's
in London on May 24 and 25, 2006, No. 456.
Founded by King Christian I of Denmark in the mid-15th century, the Order of the Elephant is a single-class chivalric order. Regulated
in 1693 and 1808, it is the most prestigious of the Danish orders.
This jewel of the Order of the Elephant is of the Baroque type in use from 1699 to 1801. It is adorned with the monogram of King Christian VII. Born in 1749, he ascended to the throne in 1766 and died in 1808. During his 42-year reign, he appointed 69 knights of the Order of the Elephant.
The order's archives were destroyed by a fire in 1884, making documentary sources on these jewels scarce. However, according to surviving goldsmith invoices, only 24 new copies appear to have been made in the 18th century to replace lost or too damaged copies to be given to new knights. Alongside numerous repairs and monogram modifications, these invoices distinguish the provision of jewels in gold and diamonds from those in copper and fake stones.
With no further explanations on these two types of manufacture, gilded copper Elephants are now presented as everyday wear jewels, whereas at the time, nothing should have distinguished them. Thus an elephant in gilded copper with the monogram of Christian VI (1730-1746) is preserved in the royal collections of Rosenborg Castle in Denmark (Barokenelefanten, inv. No. 12-54).
Aside from the rare copies prior to 1699 and those post-1801 preserved in the Danish royal collections and in rare public or private collections, we have identified, in addition to the exemplar from Rosenborg Castle (solely in gilded copper), only four other copies of Baroque-type Elephant jewels, all in gold, enamel, and diamonds:
- Napoleon's elephant, lost on the evening of the Battle of Waterloo, with eroded monogram, preserved in the Historical Museum of Moscow (inv. No. GIM 112948KP-1733453).
- The elephant of one of Napoleon's brothers, with an unknown monogram, preserved in a private collection.
- An unattributed elephant, with an unknown monogram, in the collections of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (inv. No. E-709).
- An elephant from a French private collection, very damaged, with erased monogram, in the British market in 2005-2006.
Bibliography:
- BENCARD, Mogens, KAARSTED, Tage, Fra Korsridder til Ridderkors, Elefantordenens og Dannebrogordenens historie, Poul Kristensen Grafisk Viksomhed, 1993, pp.196-197.
- BERLIEN, J.H., Der Elephant-Orden und seine Ritter, Kopenhagen, 1846.
- COLLECTIF, Precious Gems, Jewellery from eight centuries, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2000.
- STEVNSBORG, Lars, Kongeriget Danmarks Ordener Medaljer og Haederstegn, Syddansk Universitetsforlag 2005, p.55.
- TULARD, Jean (under the direction of), La berline de Napoléon, le mystère du butin de Waterloo, Albin Michel, Paris, 2012, pp. 226-227.
EARLY PERIOD – BOOKS – 17th CENTURY FIREARMS
HUNTING ART – PHALERISTICS
18th AND 19th CENTURY WEAPONS – RUSSIAN ART
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 11am to 12pm
AFRICA AND OCEANIA – FAR EAST
Friday, March 7, 2025 - 2pm
ISLAMIC AND INDIAN ART
Drouot - rooms 5-6
EXHIBITION:
Tuesday, March 4, from 11am to 6pm
Wednesday, March 5, from 11am to 6pm
Thursday, March 6, from 11am to 12pm
Phone during the exhibition +33(0)1 48 00 20 05
GIQUELLO
Alexandre Giquello
Violette Stcherbatcheff
5, rue La Boétie - 75008 Paris
+33 (0)1 47 42 78 01 - info@giquello.net
o.v.v. approval
No. 2002 389
CONTACT:
Claire Richon
+33(0)1 47 70 48 00
c.richon@giquello.net
EXPERT:
Jean-Christophe Palthey, Expert SFEP
+41 (0)79 107 89 96
jc.palthey@gmail.com
Lot No. 177 (from the sale)
Rare jewel of the Order of the Elephant, Barokenelefanten, with the monogram of King Christian VII (1766-1808)
Stylized elephant in gilded copper with white enamel, pink enameled raised trunk, eyes and forehead set with Rhinestones,
on its back a fringed blue carpet adorned with flowers and scrolls, decorated on the right side with a large Greek cross set with
five Rhinestones and on the left side with the painted monogram "C7" under a wide royal crown. It is topped with a tower
decorated in enamel painting of a masonry of pink stones and a door, the base and top of the tower are set
with a circle of small stones. It is surmounted by a pivoting ring decorated with flowers. A small Moorish mahout holding a
spear is seated above its head.
Accidents, losses, and usual restorations
H. 78 mm - L. 60 mm - W. 28 mm - Weight: 67.75 g.
Denmark, last quarter of the 18th century
60,000/80,000 €
Provenance:
- Former collections of the American Numismatic Society, New York, USA, dispersed during the sale organized by Morton & Eden and Sotheby's
in London on May 24 and 25, 2006, No. 456.
Founded by King Christian I of Denmark in the mid-15th century, the Order of the Elephant is a single-class chivalric order. Regulated
in 1693 and 1808, it is the most prestigious of the Danish orders.
This jewel of the Order of the Elephant is of the Baroque type in use from 1699 to 1801. It is adorned with the monogram of King Christian VII. Born in 1749, he ascended to the throne in 1766 and died in 1808. During his 42-year reign, he appointed 69 knights of the Order of the Elephant.
The order's archives were destroyed by a fire in 1884, making documentary sources on these jewels scarce. However, according to surviving goldsmith invoices, only 24 new copies appear to have been made in the 18th century to replace lost or too damaged copies to be given to new knights. Alongside numerous repairs and monogram modifications, these invoices distinguish the provision of jewels in gold and diamonds from those in copper and fake stones.
With no further explanations on these two types of manufacture, gilded copper Elephants are now presented as everyday wear jewels, whereas at the time, nothing should have distinguished them. Thus an elephant in gilded copper with the monogram of Christian VI (1730-1746) is preserved in the royal collections of Rosenborg Castle in Denmark (Barokenelefanten, inv. No. 12-54).
Aside from the rare copies prior to 1699 and those post-1801 preserved in the Danish royal collections and in rare public or private collections, we have identified, in addition to the exemplar from Rosenborg Castle (solely in gilded copper), only four other copies of Baroque-type Elephant jewels, all in gold, enamel, and diamonds:
- Napoleon's elephant, lost on the evening of the Battle of Waterloo, with eroded monogram, preserved in the Historical Museum of Moscow (inv. No. GIM 112948KP-1733453).
- The elephant of one of Napoleon's brothers, with an unknown monogram, preserved in a private collection.
- An unattributed elephant, with an unknown monogram, in the collections of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (inv. No. E-709).
- An elephant from a French private collection, very damaged, with erased monogram, in the British market in 2005-2006.
Bibliography:
- BENCARD, Mogens, KAARSTED, Tage, Fra Korsridder til Ridderkors, Elefantordenens og Dannebrogordenens historie, Poul Kristensen Grafisk Viksomhed, 1993, pp.196-197.
- BERLIEN, J.H., Der Elephant-Orden und seine Ritter, Kopenhagen, 1846.
- COLLECTIF, Precious Gems, Jewellery from eight centuries, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2000.
- STEVNSBORG, Lars, Kongeriget Danmarks Ordener Medaljer og Haederstegn, Syddansk Universitetsforlag 2005, p.55.
- TULARD, Jean (under the direction of), La berline de Napoléon, le mystère du butin de Waterloo, Albin Michel, Paris, 2012, pp. 226-227.
Reference :
Étude Giquello, Drouot - salles 5-6, les 6 & 7 mars 2025
Next update Friday, april 4th at 1:30 PM
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