Lot 354
354
A Magnificent Group of Twelve Enamelled Dress Miniatures to Colonel J.A. Man-Stuart, Gordon Highlanders, a Recipient of the Chinese Order of the Button for His Services Under Gordon in the Taipeng Rebellion, The Order of the Bath, Military Division, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband and gold buckle; The Order of St. Michael and St. George, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband and gold buckle; The Order of St. John, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband; Egypt, dated, one engraved clasp, The Nile 1884-85, with enamelled riband; China 1900, no clasp, engraved obverse legend and reverse design, with enamelled riband; Ashanti 1900, no clasp, engraved obverse legend and reverse design, with enamelled riband; Coronation 1902; China, Order of the Button (a.k.a. the Precious Star), a superb gold Badge, with enamelled central 'blue stones' and riband, and pendant gold tassel; China, Taipeng Rebellion Medal, silver, with enamelled riband; Italy, Order of the C
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more DRESS MINIATURES
A Magnificent Group of Twelve Enamelled Dress Miniatures to Colonel J.A. Man-Stuart, Gordon Highlanders, a Recipient of the Chinese Order of the Button for His Services Under Gordon in the Taipeng Rebellion, The Order of the Bath, Military Division, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband and gold buckle; The Order of St. Michael and St. George, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband and gold buckle; The Order of St. John, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband; Egypt, dated, one engraved clasp, The Nile 1884-85, with enamelled riband; China 1900, no clasp, engraved obverse legend and reverse design, with enamelled riband; Ashanti 1900, no clasp, engraved obverse legend and reverse design, with enamelled riband; Coronation 1902; China, Order of the Button (a.k.a. the Precious Star), a superb gold Badge, with enamelled central 'blue stones' and riband, and pendant gold tassel; China, Taipeng Rebellion Medal, silver, with enamelled riband; Italy, Order of the Crown, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband; Turkey, Order of the Osmania, silver, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband; Khedive's Star 1882, bronze, with enamelled riband, the whole pendant from a gold and white gold chain for neck wear, in Brook & Son, Edinburgh fitted case (12)

Details
A Magnificent Group of Twelve Enamelled Dress Miniatures to Colonel J.A. Man-Stuart, Gordon Highlanders, a Recipient of the Chinese Order of the Button for His Services Under Gordon in the Taipeng Rebellion, The Order of the Bath, Military Division, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband and gold buckle; The Order of St. Michael and St. George, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband and gold buckle; The Order of St. John, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband; Egypt, dated, one engraved clasp, The Nile 1884-85, with enamelled riband; China 1900, no clasp, engraved obverse legend and reverse design, with enamelled riband; Ashanti 1900, no clasp, engraved obverse legend and reverse design, with enamelled riband; Coronation 1902; China, Order of the Button (a.k.a. the Precious Star), a superb gold Badge, with enamelled central 'blue stones' and riband, and pendant gold tassel; China, Taipeng Rebellion Medal, silver, with enamelled riband; Italy, Order of the Crown, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband; Turkey, Order of the Osmania, silver, gold and enamel, with enamelled riband; Khedive's Star 1882, bronze, with enamelled riband, the whole pendant from a gold and white gold chain for neck wear, in Brook & Son, Edinburgh fitted case (12)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Sold with a letter of provenance that states these magnificent Dress Miniature 'Jewels' were once displayed at the Order of St. John at St. John's Gate, London in 1941.

Colonel John Alexander Man-Stuart, C.B., C.M.G., K. St. J., who died in November 1908, was latterly a Brigadier and Adjutant of the King's Body Guard for Scotland, the Royal Archers. In earlier times, following a private education in the U.K. and on the Continent, he had served in various military and civil capacities in China, Formosa, Manchuria, the Sudan, Egypt, the West Indies and West Africa, onetime holding a Commission in the Gordon Highlanders.

But of all of his foreign travel, it was probably his time in China and Manchuria that proved the most rewarding. Having received the China Medal for his services in Shanghai, he went on to join Gordon of Khartoum's Anglo-Chinese Contingent in the Taipeng Rebellion of 1863-64 and was present at the operations before Soochow and at the siege and storming of Changchow, services that won him the Chinese Medal and the splendidly entitled Order of the Button. In Manchuria in 1873, he was selected to raise a Corps of Military Police for the Treaty District of Newchwang, in order to counter the mounted Banditti who infested the region. This he did, afterwards commanding the unit and receiving the thanks of the British and Italian Ministers and the Imperial Minister, praise that won him the Italian Order of the Crown, Fourth Class and the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Chinese Army.

Neither did his subsequent services in the Nile Expedition of 1884-85 or the Ashanti Campaign of 1900 pass without some form of recognition, the former, as a Boat and Staff Officer resulting in an Order of Osmania, Fourth Class and the latter a C.B. and two Mentions in Despatches. He would later serve as an A.D.C. to the famous Valentine Baker and as an Acting Inspector-General of Gendarmerie.

Created a C.M.G. in 1897 and a K. St. J. in 1902, the Colonel had married Helen (nee Lang) back in 1888. Herself a Lady of Grace of the Order of St. John, it seems more than probable that the above described 'Jewels' were commissioned for, and worn by, her.