|
The order of
Albert was founded in 1850 an had quite an interesting
history. Featuring possibly one of the strongest Christian
designs the shape of the decorations resembled the true
proportions of a Christian cross. The center showed, so
they believed, the bust of the founder of the
Albertinien family line Albert the stout-hearted. Yet is
was by mistake Albert the Perennial, which after
discovering the mistake caused the model change in 1875.
I always found
those busts to be very handy while identifying the
different manufacturers of the order. You will see below
one example of each bust. The size of the bust varied by
class so that we would need to look at 2 different
sizes:
a) Grand- and
Commander Cross with their stars
b) Officer and
both grades of the knights cross
Luckily design and
style so characteristic for each manufacturer does not
change in-between those sizes:
Official
manufacturers and suppliers of the Order of Albert:
Busts
on the 1st type Decorations 1850-1875
|
|
Mortiz
Elimeyer was court jeweler to the Saxons from 1856
to 1909. He was not a regular supplier to the
orders chancellery but was contracted whenever
there was a need for special and extremely
decorative pieces. |
|
|
Gustav
Adolph Scharffenberg was born in 1805. He started
his jeweler business in 1834 and took over the
supply to the Saxon orders chancellery in 1849
after the former appointed supplier Künzel
deceased. |
|
|
Christian
Friedrich Rothe originated in the Saxe-Atlenburg
region. He moved to Vienna and took over a
goldsmith business in 1844. Hi quality workmanship
made him quite famous in Europe. He started
supplying decoration to the Saxons in 1862. He
received a larger order from the orders
chancellery in 1866 and tried since then to get
repeat business. |
Busts
on the 2nd type Decorations 1876-1918
|
|
made by
Scharffenberg |
|
|
Alfred
Roesner had since 1890 the title of a princely
court jeweler. He was awarded the title of a court
jeweler in 1912 and was regular supplier to the
orders chancellery since 1915. |
|
|
In 1868
Glaser & Sohn was founded by Moritz Glaser.
They started supplying in 1911. |
|
|
made by
Rothe |
Other
manufacturers
|
|
Godet in
Berlin, founded in 1761, was certainly not an
official supplier to the chancellery, yet was used
as much as Rothe for specially made decorations. |
You will find many more due to the fact that the
order was awarded in rather large quantities all over
Europe. Many court jewelers in those other European
countries produced the order on request.
| 
