COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA THAT BELONGED TO ALBERT JOSEPH GAS - Lot 52

COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA THAT BELONGED TO ALBERT JOSEPH GASTEIGER (1823–1890), KNOWN AS “GASTAGER KHAN,” DIRECTOR OF CIVIL AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION FOR THE PERSIAN EMPIRE FROM 1860 TO 1888 DURING THE REIGN OF SHAH NASSER AL-DIN (1848–1896) (lots 52 through 52 E.). PERSIAN EMPIRE – QAJAR DYNASTY. INSIGNIA OF A KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF THE LION AND THE SUN in 800°/°° silver, enamel, and triangular ribbon; the center depicts a recumbent lion with the sun behind him at noon. Manufactured from 1872 onward. Dimensions: 75 x 64 mm. Gross weight: 29.60 g. History: Albert Joseph Gasteiger Khan (1823–1890), an Austrian engineer in the service of Nasser al-Din Shah, was one of the principal architects of the modernization of Qajar Persia’s infrastructure. In charge of the state’s civil and military construction projects, he oversaw major road and bridge construction projects, notably the Mazandaran Road. Promoted to the rank of general (Mir Panj) and honored with the title of Khan, he remains one of the few Europeans to have held such a prominent position within the 19th-century Persian administration.