Orders & Decorations Germany - Württemberg... Lot 36

Orders & Decorations Germany - Württemberg : Kingdom of Württemberg: Military Order of Merit. Knight's Cross from the time of King Frederick I (1806 - 1818). The medallion with the crowned cipher: "FR". Gold and enamel. Fine contemporary original copy. The arms of the cross with separately applied enameled gold plates, on them the order's motto: "BENE/ME/REN/TIBUS". The central medallion, deeply inlaid in the arms of the cross, has translucent blue enamel and a fine guilloche background. Screwed to the back. On fluted closed band ring and original band. Enamel chips due to wear (very well restored). The reverse smoothly worked. Knight's Cross of exceptionally great rarity from the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Since the decorations were subject to restitution and almost all of them were melted down after King Wilhelm I changed the model in 1818, only a very small number of the early models have survived. Only a few originals of this type are known to exist in private hands. Condition: 2