Ethiopia: Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia, officer, by B. A. Sevadjian of Addis Ababa.
Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia, officer, gilt metal five-pointed star, the lower two arms joined, on a suspension of a Europeanised Ethiopian coronet; the face with a traditional Ethiopian filigree shield pattern with raised central boss; the reverse plain with maker’s mark ‘MADE IN ETHIOPIA B.A. SEVADJIAN’; on original ribbon with rosette denoting an award of the officer class.
Condition: Extremely Fine.
The Order of the Star of Ethiopia was founded by Emperor Menelik II in 1884-85 when he was Negus (King) of Shoa and prior to his becoming Emperor of Ethiopia in 1889, and is said to be based on an older award. It was awarded in five grades of which the present example is ‘Officer’. The Order is currently made by Arthus Bertrand in Paris. Prior to the overthrow of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, the Order was made by B. A. Sevadjian of Addis Ababa, as in this example, apart from the period of Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941 when it was made by Mappin & Webb in London.
