Sitter: Ras Mäkonnen (Wäldä-Mika'él)(1) (1852-1906). [Ethiopia] Biog: Ethiopian General & Governor of Harar, cr. Ras 1890; father of Emperor Haile Sellasie I. Date: c. August 1902. Occasion: Visit to England for the Coronation of King Edward VII; appointment as a Knight Commander of 'The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael & St. George' (K.C.M.G.), cr. 12 August 1902. Location: The Lafayette Studio, 179 New Bond Street, London. Descr: HL. Costume: Gold coronet bearing crowned effigy of Emperor Menilek II; Ethiopian ceremonial silk shirt.   Costume Supplier: Coronet probably made by Dikran Ebeyan, jeweller to the Ethiopian court. Orders, Decorations & Medals: Badge & star of The Order of St. Michael and St. George, (Knight Commander); star of The (Russian) Order of St. Anne (?); star of The (French) L?gion d'Honneur (Third Republic); star of The Order of the Crown of Italy; star of The (Ottoman) Order of Osmania. Furniture & Props: Studio chair.

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References:

Biog: Hugh Montgomery Massingberd ed., Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol II, London, 1980, p 52b; Who's Who; August B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia, London, 1900, passim; Felix Rosen, Eine deutsche Gesandschaft in Abessinien, Leipzig, 1907, passim. E.A. Wallis Budge, The History of Ethiopia, London, 1928, Vol II pp 537-8; S.P. Petrides, Le h?ros d'Adoua, Ras Makonnen, Prince d'Ethiopie, Paris, 1965; Richard D. Greenfield, Ethiopia: A New Political History, London, 1965, pp 147-8; Hayla Giyorgis Belete, Z?nahu Le-Leul Ras Makonnen, Addis Ababa, 1972-3; The Encylop?dia Africana Dictionary of African Biography, Vol II, New York, 1976, pp 101-2.

Occasion: (Visit to England) The World, Coronation Supplement, 2 July 1902, p 5a; The Times, 4 July 1902, p 3f; John Edward Coutenay Bodley, The Coronation of Edward the Seventh: A Chapter of European and Imperial History, London, 1903, p 354; "The Visit of Ras Makonnen to Europe in 1902 and the 'Spy' Cartoon of him"⁽²⁾, Ethiopia Observer, XIV, 1971, pp 295-7; Public Record Office, Kew, Ref: FO 1, 36-40; Sir Lionel Cust, King Edward VII and His Court, London 1930, p 156. (Award of K.C.M.G.) The Times, August 11 1902, p 6b. (Award of Coronation Medal) The Times, August 18 1902, p 8a.

Costume (literature on similar examples): (Silk shirt) H. Rassam, Narrative of the British Mission to Theodore, King of Abyssinia, London 1869, Vol I p 298 & Vol II p 5.

Costume Supplier: (Coronet) Count Gleichen, With the Mission to Menelik 1897, London 1897, p 248.

Orders, Decorations & Medals: (K.C.M.G.) A.R. Litherland & B.T. Simpkin, Spinks Standard Catalogue of British and Associated Orders, Decorations & Medals, London, 1990, p 35; (Order of St. Anne) Robert Werlich, Russian Orders, Decorations and Medals, Washington, 1981, pp 15-17; (L?gion d'Honneur); Robert Werlich, Orders and Decoration of All Nations, Ancient and Modern, Civil and Military, Washington, 1990, pp 131-2; (Order of Crown of Italy) ibid, p 253-4; (Osmania) ibid, p 420.

Reproduced: G?br? Sellass?, Chronique du regne de M?n?lik II roi des rois d'Ethiopie, Paris, 1930-1, plate XXVII; G?br? Sellass?, Tarik? Z?m?n k? K?gmawi Menilek Negus? N?g?st zaltyopya, Addis Ababa, 1959 (Ethiopian calendar), p 240.

Acknowledgements: Professor Richard Pankhurst, Addis Ababa University; (research) Russell Harris, Barbara Borkowy, Jane Meadows. (Orders etc.) Andrew Litherland, Spink & Son.

1. Ras = "title conferred on governors of provinces" (Burke's Royal Families of the World, Vol II, London, 1980, p 45)

2. drawn by Sir Leslie Ward, Number DCCLXVI in the series "Men of the Day", published in Vanity Fair, 12 February 1903.