ASSIRO-KHAPAESKY BATTALION, THE HILT SIGNED CARTIER, PARIS, CIRCA 1920-30, ALMOST CERTAINLY PRESENTED TO AGHA PETROS ELLOFF (1880-1932)

with slightly curved fullered bright blade etched with the presentation inscription in Russian between foliage against a grey ground along one side, and with scrolling foliage over most of its length on the other including the signature ‘Atre. Caprion’ towards the point, the back at the forte with maker’s details ‘Coulaux & Co., Klingenthal, France’, gilt-metal hilt comprising side-guard cast, pierced and chased as an Assyrian Lamassu above neo-classical foliage and joined to the knuckle-guard by four scrolled upcurved side-bars, the knuckle-guard chased with foliage and set with a row of black hardstones along the bottom on the outside, down scrolled rear quillon, langets each formed as three feathers, inner-guard with neo-classical foliage en suite and flanked by scrolled side-bars (one slightly detached), pommel of stepped octagonal section set with black hardstones in a stylised feathered design along the back of the grip and around the top on each facet above pairs of dots, and surmounted by a black hardstone carved with the recipient’s coat-of-arms, wire-bound ribbed ivory grip (minor age cracks), and retaining its silver bullion sword-knot, in its lightly gilt nickel-plated scabbard with feathered suspension mount with hinged suspension loop, 80.5 cm blade

The inscription reads in translation: ‘To the commander of the Assiro-Khapaesky Battalion, soldiers of the Russian Army who fought under the banners of Kornilov, Denikin, Kolchak, and Wrangel’.

Lavr G. Kornilov (1870-1918) was a military commander of the Volunteer Army who was killed during the Ekaterinodar campaign.

Anton I. Denikin (1872-1947) was Commander of the Volunteer Army/Armed Forces of South Russia after Kornilov and led the main southern White offensive.

Admiral Aleksandr V. Kolchak (1874-1920) was termed ‘Supreme Ruler of Russia’ and was the principle White leader in Serbia and eastern Russia.

Pyotr N. Wrangel (1878-1928) was the last major commander of the White forces in South Russia and Crimea. He was known as the ‘Black Baron’.

Agha Petros Elloff, Assyrian commander, diplomat and national advocate was also known as Petros Elia of Baz, one of the most prominent Assyrian military and political figures of the First World War. Born in 1880 among the independent Assyrian tribes of the Persian borderlands, he came from the mountainous region between Persia and the Ottoman Empire, a world repeatedly drawn into the rival ambitions of Russia, Turkey and Britain.

Educated in the United States, he returned to his homeland around 1900 and soon entered public life. He served for a time as Turkish consul in Urmia, before transferring his sympathies and services towards Russia, which he regarded as the most likely protector of the Assyrian people. By 1912–13 he was attached to the Russian consulate in Urmia, and had begun to acquire the confidence of Russian officers operating in north-west Persia.

With the outbreak of war in 1914, Agha Petros became an indispensable ally of the Russian campaign in Persia. Supplied with arms, uniforms and funds, he raised and commanded an Assyrian fighting force against Ottoman and Kurdish incursions. His men fought in the defence of Urmia, Salmas and other Assyrian centres, and helped protect Christian communities during a period of extreme danger and upheaval.

His relationship with Russian officers was close. Major-General Vladimir Levandovsky, the Russian commander in Persia, recognised in him a leader of courage, loyalty and tactical ability. After the Russian Revolution, the Assyrian forces were left without their principal protector. Agha Petros’s hopes for an Assyrian national future were frustrated by the collapse of old alliances and the indifference of the post-war settlement. He went into exile in France, travelling to Paris via Marseille. There, as commander-in-chief of the Assyrian-Chaldean forces and chairman of the National Assyrian-Chaldean Committee, he pleaded at international conferences for recognition and protection for his people. His appeals were largely unsuccessful.

Agha Petros died in Toulouse in 1932. To those who knew him in exile, he was remembered not only as a soldier but as a loyal friend and protector. General D. I. Andrievsky, who had known him for many years, wrote:

“In the person of Agha Petros Ellov, Russia has lost a sincere, deeply devoted friend and an invaluable ally—one of its finest and most dedicated figures in the Middle East.”

His dream of an independent Assyrian homeland was never realised. Yet among Assyrians he remained a symbol of resistance, self-determination and national courage: a warrior-diplomat whose life was shaped by the collapse of empires and the struggle of a stateless people to be heard.

This presentation sabre is an exceptionally rare example of a bespoke ceremonial weapon commissioned by Cartier Paris during the interwar period. Unlike standard military swords, it combines the work of a luxury jeweller with the symbolism of a high-level military presentation piece. Surviving Cartier swords from this period are extraordinarily uncommon, and examples linked to major historical figures are rarer still. The most important comparison and from the exactly the same era is probably the presentation sword bestowed to the Federation of French Veterans of the Great War in Honour of Marshal Foch, Supreme Allied Leader (1918-20), and presented to him at Georgetown University during his 1921 American tour.

Olympia Auctions are grateful to Khamzat Askhabov for assisting in the preparation of this catalogue entry.

Ivory Registration: 4TGF6VUF