KILIJ SABER PRESENTED TO GENERAL CATROUX BY LEVANT SPECIAL T - Lot 178

KILIJ SABER PRESENTED TO GENERAL CATROUX BY LEVANT SPECIAL TROOPS GENERAL CATROUX Ottoman "Kilij" saber in silver and precious and semi-precious stones, with curved steel blade, engraved with a gold dedication "les Troupes Spéciales du Levant. In grateful homage to the G(enér)al d'A(rm)ée Catroux", the fuse and grip in jade inlaid with a network of filigree floral and plant in gold and metal set with turquoise and cabochons of colored stones. With its silver scabbard (800 thousandths) with damascened and filigree decoration, inlaid with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and turquoise cabochons. The guard is glued back. Ottoman Empire, late 19th or early 20th century. L. 71 cm (blade). L. 86 cm (total). Provenance General Georges Catroux (1877-1969), Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor, General Delegate of the Free French Forces in the Middle East, then High Commissioner of the Free French Forces in the Levant during World War II. Levant during the Second World War; he was appointed commander of French troops in the Levant by General de Gaulle between 1941 and 1943, before being tasked with proclaiming the independence of Syria and Lebanon. Formed to complement the Armée du Levant during the period of the French mandate in Syria and Lebanon Lebanon, the Troupes spéciales du Levant are military units created in 1930 by merging the and auxiliary troops. Made up of personnel recruited locally (notably from ethnic or religious minorities: Kurds, Circassians, Ismailis and Druze), these troops then form the basis of the national armies of Lebanon and Syria.