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From Alan Phipps:
A chelengk was a decoration of the Ottoman Empire... It was a jewelled aigrette
consisting of a central flower with leaves and buds, and upward-facing
rays. In modern Turkish, a çelenk is a wreath or garland, a circular
decoration made from flowers and leaves, usually arranged as an
ornament.
A specially-made chelengk was awarded to Horatio Nelson by Sultan Selim
III in honour of the Battle of the Nile in 1798. This was the first time
that a chelengk was conferred on a non-Ottoman. The usual seven rays
were augmented to thirteen, as described in a contemporary letter:
The Aigrette is a
kind of feather; it represents a hand with thirteen fingers, which are
of diamonds, and allusive to the thirteen ships taken and destroyed at
Alexandria, the size that of a child's hand about six years old when
opened;
...
In Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series of novels, Captain Jack
Aubrey is awarded a chelengk by the Sultan after capturing two rebel
ships. His chelengk was worn, like Nelson's, on his dress uniform hat
and contained hidden clockwork, so that the diamond strands shimmered in
the sun. (Read more.)
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