A rare paste and garnet 'Order of Christ' brooch, Portugal, 19th century, designed as a cross within

A rare paste and garnet 'Order of Christ' brooch, Portugal, 19th century, designed as a cross within a foliate border suspended from a ribbon bow, set with foiled calibré-cut garnets and cushion-shaped pastes, in closed-back silver settings, length 5.5cm, case stamped Franklin, 37 Duke Street, St James's

The Order of Christ was a religious and military order founded in Portugal as a continuation of the Knights Templar, following their persecution and disbandment in the early 14th century. Secularised by Queen Maria I of Portugal in 1789, it was one of the three 'Ancient Military Orders' conferred upon prominent political, cultural and military figures by the Portuguese monarchs. With the fall of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910 it was discontinued, but was revived shortly afterwards in 1917 and still continues, presided over by the President of the Republic as its Grand Master.
Cf.: Leonor d'Orey, Five Centuries of Jewellery, National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, 1995, p.112 and Diana Scarisbrick, Brilliant Impressions: An Exhibition of Antique Paste and Other Jewellery, SJ Phillips, 2010, p.97-8, for similar examples of these distinctive jewels.