Oval Portraits of Two European Military Officers 1800’s. These are two miniature oval portraits of European military officers, possibly English, but we are not sure what country they hail from. Likely Duke of "Wellington" (of Waterloo fame) and Marshall "Ney" (one of Napoleon's leading gnerals). Both portraits have signatures on the back, but the signatures are not fully legible. Both are decorated with numerous medals, and the officer facing left, with a white cravat, appears to be wearing a medal from the Order of St. Joachim, which was an order of chivalry founded in 1755 to promote religious tolerance and can be identified by an eight-pointed gold star. (The portrait of the officer with the Order of St. Joachim medal seems to read “W. Muytin” on the back, but the signature is still hard to decipher clearly.) We thought the officers might be English because the consignor was an avid collector of things Titanic - his great grandfather went down with the Titanic - and the consignor was an avid collector of Lord Nelson memorabilia - Admiral Horatio Nelson accepted the Grand Cross of the Order in 1802; the consignor collected many books from England as well, including first editions by Dickens, but we might be wrong about the officers. The Order of St. Joachim seems to have originated in Hungary way back when (it was founded by fourteen nobles and military leaders of the Holy Roman Empire), so we can’t say for certain what country these officers came from. The frames measure 5 1/2 in. down the center and 4 1/2 in. wide, and the portraits are under glass. Overall size: 5 3/4 x 5 in. Image size: 4 x 3 in.