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Plate with the monogram of Maximilian I of Mexico, made of p…
61
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Plate with the monogram of Maximilian I of Mexico, made of p…
Estimate €2,500 - €3,500
Voluntary lot
Description
Plate with the monogram of Maximilian I of Mexico, made of porcelain by T. Goode & Co., London, Minton's China. 19th century.
Decorated with a green border.
30.5 x 38 cm.
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph Maria of Habsburg-Lorraine was born in Vienna on July 6, 1832, into the powerful Habsburg imperial family. He was the son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and the younger brother of the man who would become one of Europe’s longest-reigning monarchs, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.
From birth, Maximilian was destined to form part of the Austrian imperial family and was given the title of Archduke of Austria. Yet the course of history would eventually take him far from Vienna. His life would become forever linked to a country on the other side of the Atlantic, in the midst of profound political turmoil: Mexico.
In 1857, he married Charlotte of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold I. The couple shared a strong interest in culture, the arts, and political life. For several years, Maximilian pursued a career in the service of the Austrian monarchy, taking on important military and political responsibilities.
But his destiny changed when he was offered the crown of Mexico. At a time when the country was deeply divided between monarchists and republicans, and against the backdrop of the French intervention, Maximilian accepted the throne and set sail for Mexico with Charlotte.
In order to become emperor, he renounced his rights and titles within the House of Austria and took the name Maximilian I of Mexico. His reign, which began in 1864, would become the only imperial period known as the Second Mexican Empire, and it unfolded amid constant conflict with the republican government led by Benito Juárez.
Maximilian sought to build an empire that would not simply serve as an extension of the European interests that had brought him to Mexico. He introduced a number of reforms and attempted to consolidate his government, but he faced an increasingly difficult political and military situation. The withdrawal of French support and the growing strength of the republican forces eventually left the emperor almost completely isolated.
Finally, Maximilian was captured by republican forces. Following a trial, he was sentenced to death.
On June 19, 1867, at the Cerro de las Campanas in Querétaro, Maximilian of Habsburg was executed by firing squad. He was thirty-four years old.
His death brought the Second Mexican Empire to a definitive end. From that moment on, the story of the prince born in Vienna who had crossed the ocean to occupy a throne in Mexico would become forever shrouded in a mixture of tragedy, idealism, political ambition, and historical controversy.
In Mexican memory, and particularly within Mexican historiography, he came to be known as Maximilian of Habsburg—a figure whose life, extraordinarily brief in historical terms, became permanently intertwined with one of the most complex and dramatic episodes in nineteenth-century Mexico.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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