Circular silver, silver gilt and enamel order with laterally-pierced ball suspension; the face with a circular central silver medallion bearing the head and shoulders portrait in relief of Jean Jacques Dessalines in full period military uniform within a blue enamel ring inscrinbed in gilt letters ‘ORDRE JEAN JACQUE DESSALINES LE GRAND – MERITE MILITAIRE’ within a green, red and blue enamel laurel wreath; the reverse plain gilt with the arms of Haiti within a ring inscribed ‘LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE * REPUBLIQUE D’HAITI’; on original ribbon mounted for wear with a silver gilt bar decorated with laurel leaves; in original case of issue by Vilardebo y Riera of Havana. The Order was instituted to recognise especial merit in the military sphere and is named for Jean Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806), a leader of the revolt against French rule in the late 18th Century and who became the first Emperor of an independent Haiti in 1804 before being assassinated in 1806. Vilardebo y Riera of Havana were renowned official suppliers of orders and medals to the pre-revolutionary Cuban government. This example dates from the mid- 20th Century and is extremely rare.
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