China, Republic. An Order Of The Striped Tiger, Vii Class Knight, C.1920

(Tiáowén hǔ xūnzhāng). Instituted in 1912. Three-piece construction, illustrating a striped tiger in yellow, brown, light blue and green enamels on the centrepiece, mounted to an eight-pointed star, each star point with six emanating rays, with a cluster of three stars affixed to the star point at 12 o'clock designating the award as a VII Class Knight, all of which is mounted to an eight-pointed star base, with each of the star points in red, blue, yellow, black and white enamels, hallmarked on the reverse, measuring 53.5 mm (w) x 58 mm (h) inclusive of its laterally-pierced ball suspension, intact enamels, contact marks evident on the reverse, original ribbon that was issued for the VII, VIII and IX Class Knight badges, near extremely fine.

Footnote: The Order of the Striped Tiger was instituted on December 6, 1912 and was awarded for military or naval service by the Republic of China, in nine classes. The badge showed a striped tiger in natural colours on a central medallion. During the First World War, a large number of Chinese served with both the Chinese Labour Corps and the Royal Army Medical Corps, and many British officers, particularly in those two corps, received the order. The majority were issued in February 1920.