Medal of Ulrika Sparre

Ulrika Sparre (née Strömfelt) was one of Crown Princess Louisa Ulrika’s maids of honour. In the portrait on the medal, she has the badge of the Order of the Hand Fan on her chest. The Order of the Hand Fan, officially called “L’Ordre de l’Harmonie”, was founded by Louisa Ulrika in 1744. According to a story, the Order started the evening before the wedding of Louisa Ulrika and Adolf Frederick, when the Princess’s fan fell into pieces on a boat trip, and the Crown Prince collected the pieces and distributed them to those present as mementoes. The badge of the Order was distributed to a total of 22 people, including Louisa Ulrika’s maids of honour and Count Tessin. The Order was also seen to have political significance in that the Crown Princess thus showed her support for centralising power rather than decentralising it.

The medal is silver, 52 mm in diameter and 58.7 g in weight. It was engraved by Gustaf Ljungberger (1733–1787) and struck in 1780.