The turn of XIX-XX century. The summer of russian faleristics

Date: 19.07.2006 Source: Magazin "/" #41 Author: Marina Dashkova

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The term ⌠faleristics■ is coming from a Latin word ⌠phalerae■, which means a military decoration ≈ a banner▓s knob awarded to legionaries by Roman Emperors. We are talking about history of faleristics, its modern problems and development with an expert of the Federal Culture and Mass Media Supervision Agency (Northwestern Federal District Department) Yan Yanush.

≈ Mr. Yanush, please, tell us about the subject of faleristics┘

≈ Well, faleristics deals with orders, medals and badges of all kinds. These rather small pieces of different shape, composition, d?cor and artistic value, made of different metals and in different technique can tell quite a lot about the fates of their former owners. Besides, faleristics studies military awards of various grades, insignia (military, scientific, etc.) and many other related objects as, for example, memorable medals on graduation and other significant events.

≈ When did faleristics originate?

≈ Unlike numismatics, which is coming from the ancient times, faleristics originated much later. That is why there are no antique items at the faleristics market. Tradition to award commoners any memorable insignia did not exist in medieval times as well; feudal lords used to reward their faithful servants with money. Knightly and religious orders initially used a cross emblem cut out of fabric and sewed down on clothes. First orders date back to late medieval times in the Western Europe: English Order of the Garter, Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece and Danish Order of the Elephant originated during the Crusades. First Knights of the Garter, the Golden Fleece and other orders appeared at the same time, and there were a handful of such men.

≈ When did the first Russian awards appear?

≈ Before the reign of Peter I Russian monarchs and nobles practiced system of monetary reward like once in Europe. Common warriors were often given golden kopecks, while senior officers usually received English, Portuguese and Hungarian gold coins. Still, the idea to wear those rewards could hardly cross their minds. Then Peter I started implementing European traditions and way of life in Russia. Thus, history of Russian faleristics begins at Peter▓s time. The first Russian fan and collector of insignia was Duke Alexander Menshikov. European ambassadors and diplomats used to present him foreign orders and medals. That was how the tradition to exchange state awards established among public officials.

≈ What were the first Russian orders?

≈ The first Russian order ≈ the Order of St. Andrew was established during the reign of Peter I. The Order of St. Martyr Catherine (awarded largely to women) was introduced just after that. The Empress Catherine II instituted the Orders of St. Alexander Nevsky, St. George and St. Vladimir. Being the Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (the Malthusian Order) Catherine▓s son Emperor Pavel I established the Order of Joanites and the Order of St. Anna. After annexation of Poland the Russian Empire accepted Polish Orders of St. Stanislav, the White Eagle Order and Virtuti Militari Order. Following the Western example chevaliers of Orders began to found special leagues ≈ sheltered institutions with their own regulations, annual meetings. The aim of such organizations was also to support its members throughout their life.

Military officers could receive orders either for valour in combat or for long service in the Army. One could be awarded the Order of St. George for twenty five years of military service. Later that system was abolished.

≈ How did people wear orders at that time?

≈ Orders were worn on ribbons, chains and medal-ribbon brooches. Orders could be worn around the neck, at the chest or at a ribbon at the hip. Chevaliers of Orders of the 1st and the 2nd grades usually wore a star, which was attached to the uniform. The shape of the star copied the existed European analogues. As a rule, there was a motto inscribed in the center of the star, for instance: ⌠For Faith and Courage■. First stars were made of fabric and were embroidered with silver or gold. For obvious reasons such stars were nondurable, while gold and silver thread faded quickly. That is why chevaliers usually had several stars in order to replace the old ones. Stars could be worn either with an order or separately (just look at the portraits of XVIII√XIX century). It was not obligatory to return stars to the Imperial Chapter (the institution responsible for distributing and storing of orders), so we may meet them at the art and antique market nowadays as well.

≈ Who was in charge of awarding orders?

≈ As orders (and later medals) were official state awards, the Emperor usually signed edicts himself. In 1797, the Emperor Paul I established a special chancellery (Chapter) which was in charge of awarding orders. Notably, in pre╛revolutionary Russia orders were given only to nobles included in the so-called ⌠Table of Ranks■ (consisted of fourteen grades), which had been issued by Peter I. Each order was produced for a particular person. The number of awards was limited: when a recipient of an award died, his or hers descendants had to return the order to the Chapter. Then the returned order was given to another man.

Russian government was very serious about presenting an award. For example, a meeting of the executive committee of chevaliers of the Order of St. George was held before awarding a candidate that Order. In time of peace, such meetings were held regularly at a specified place, while in wartime the committee often operated directly at the front. A military leader could sign a certain edict only after the favourable decision of the order committee.

≈ Who made Russian orders and where?

≈ It is a difficult task to study Russian faleristics. In Soviet times, orders were produced at the State Mint, while Imperial awards were made by various private firms. On the one hand, that led to poor systematization and classification of orders, and to great diversity of Russian faleristics on the other. Jewelry companies never imitated or copied their production. Thus, today we may meet many unique orders made of different metals and enamel of different colours: red, black and white. Jewelers sometimes changed shapes and size of orders and medals, made them flat or raised, elaborated either one side or both sides of orders. As a rule, orders manufactured in a certain workshop at an interval fifteen years slightly differed from each other. Samples made in different centuries diverged at a greater scale.

≈ Did masters emboss numbers on orders and medals?

≈ No, neither orders, nor medals had their personal numbers. Numbers were embossed only on medals ⌠For Valour■ for noncommissioned officers and on Crosses of St. George Order of all four grades.

≈ What firms and companies involved in production of orders and medals were most known and popular in Russia?

≈ A St. Petersburg-based firm "Edward" was the most recognized company executing numerous orders of the Imperial Chapter at the early XX century. Masters of that firm usually stamped the mark ⌠Edward■ on the verso of orders and medals. Alongside with purity hallmark the golden and silver orders featured the initials of the maker of a particular piece as well.

≈ What orders are wide╛spread at the national antiquarian market nowadays?

≈ There are quite a lot of orders of lower grades dating the early XX century: St. Anna, St. Vladimir, St. Stanislav and St. George. Some of them failed to be awarded during the wartime. The thing is that during World War I the government was producing many bronze and metallic orders (temporarily, of course), as the country needed a great number of orders and medals. However, after the February revolution many awards were abolished or modified. For instance, the two╛headed eagle with the scepter and the orb, (the state emblem) in the center of the ⌠Medal for Valour■ was replaced by an image of St. George the Dragon slayer. After the October turnover, all those awards became useless for the new soviet state and were applied as property in various theatre and cinema plays. Orders not returned to the Chapter after the revolution by their owners, have been preserved up to nowadays too, some of them have been taken abroad, though.

As to the current situation at the national antiquarian market, I was talking about St. Petersburg shops, as up to 1914 orders and medals were given in the former capital of Russia exclusively. That is why it is next to impossible to find old orders in province.

≈ What were the first Russian medals?

≈ The first Russian medals were established at the Peter▓s age as well. First medals represented a ruble with a welded metal eyelet. A peasant could buy several cows for such a medal. The tradition to award people rubles╛medals was preserved even during the reign of Catherine II. Those ruble-shaped medals could vary in thickness, diameter and weight. There were quite a lot of similar medals meant for noncommissioned officers and soldiers.

≈ What medals were established later on and do they exist nowadays?

≈ There were memorable and standard medals. The so-called standard medals, for example "For Diligence", were issued in rather large quantities. Subject memorable medals were minted less often.

The value of a medal depends on its circulation, the quantity of pieces minted. Sometimes we are lucky to find extremely rare and important medals at the contemporary antiquarian market. For instance, only several dozens of doctors and officials were awarded the medal ⌠For Struggle with plague■ for their efforts to deal with plague right in the pesthole of that dangerous decease. The medal ⌠For the Heroic Deed of ⌠Varyag■ and ⌠Koreetz■■ was issued in a very small circulation in order to award several survived seamen. There were medals for construction of St. Isaac▓s Cathedral, the Kremlin palace and others. People took care of orders and medals; not all of Imperial awards were lost after the 1917 revolution due to their relatively large quantity.

≈ Did private companies make medals too?

≈ No, they did not. The State Mint issued the majority of medals, while private firms usually produced medals under orders of awardees that had lost their awards. As a rule, orders were one-sided, and medals were double-sided. As to badges ≈ they were usually double-sided as well.

≈ Tell us, please, about the origin and typical traits of badges.

≈ Well, unlike orders and medals, badges and emblems are not official state awards. First badges appeared in the second half of XIX century. Distribution of badges was under control of Emperors or special state institutions. While orders and medals were awarded for important deeds and achievements, badges usually indicated membership of a person (for instance: an officer of a certain military regiment or an executive of an administration). However, sometimes badges effectively demonstrated that a person was recognized in this or that field: for example, the man of Imperial Theatres. A number of Russian institutions had their personal badges, like Imperial Fireguard Association. Academy of Arts presented special badges to its graduates too. The government also established the badge for graduates of Russian Universities (there was a unified badge for graduates of the Moscow, St. Petersburg and Derpt Universities). The Moscow Technological institute had its own emblem, which differed from other badges.

≈ Who usually initiated establishment of badges?

≈ As a rule, citizens or organizations addressed Emperors with a certain request. The Emperor could either confirm or reject a petition. Very often similar petitions coincided with anniversaries and jubilees. For instance, an initiative group addressed the Emperor Nicolas II to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gatchina orphan▓s house. Soon special impersonal badges were issued under the auspices of the brother of the Emperor Michael Alexandrovich, and given to awardees alongside with registered certificates. The badge "200th anniversary of Kronschtadt" was presented only to honorary citizens of the town and members of the local elite. Imperial chancellery had the right to reject awarding petitions.

First, a special committee had to pass the sketch of a future badge. There were a great number of badges of different shapes and sizes, made of gold, silver, metals with silver plating and enamel. One could order badges in various workshops, depending on his or hers financial abilities and tastes. Beings patrons of military regiments and societies for rehabilitation of the disabled (established during World War I) members of the Imperial family used to deal with the Faberge company. Trade and public association often awarded their sponsors golden badges, precious nametags or jewelry decorations (usually for anniversaries, jubilees of other festive events). As badges and decorations were in fashion at the turn of the century, women wore them too. For instance, ⌠Administration of the Empress Maria■ awarded special badges to those involved in charity actions. While the government supported production of orders and medals, badges were made at private expense. Most often soldiers did not have enough money to order a badge, and officers used to contribute their own funds to provide every soldier with bronze or brass badges. As by the early XX century Russian soldiers did not have to serve twenty five years in the army, badges were ordered quite frequently in order to supply new recruits with regiment▓s emblems.

Researchers are paying close attention to badges. There are plenty of notes in old archives relating to history and development of badges, for example records concerning Emperor▓s decisions on badge sketches.

≈ To finish our talk, please say a few words about tags and signs.

≈ First tags appeared in the second half of XIX century. One did not need any agreement or higher confirmation to make a tag (usually they were made of silver of low purity). Tags were worn on a chain.

The majority of tags were quite cheap: they were produced to celebrate anniversaries of provincial military regiments or similar festive events. There were tags issued for charitable purposes as ⌠One kopeck to the front■ and even paper tags made during World War I and the early Soviet age. Paper tags are not very well researched. Still, they are closer to faleristics then to philately. Paper tags were largely coloured, but there were monochrome ones as well.

Tags were issued in unlimited circulation. Various memorial tags for graduates of schools and colleges were ordered by their parents or by school administration.

Some badges and tags cause arguments among researchers. Disagreements occur due to fasteners and clasps of some of the pieces. If a tag has a screw fastening ≈ it is a badge, while a badge on a chain usually relates to tags.

Faleristics also studies various tourist emblems, bibelots and fobs. People often wore chains with three or four fobs with different inscriptions: ⌠Greetings from Caucasus■, ⌠Greetings from Crimea■ or ⌠Love and remember me■. A badge on a pin was invented much later.

I would like to add that each expert has his own point of view on faleristics. Unlike numismatics, our branch of science is relatively young and continues forming its principles and classification. That is why opinions of different authors may not coincide.