UNITED KINGDOM - Order of the British Empire. Commander's Cross, civil title, 2nd type (Britannia sitting). Silver gilt, enamel, tie, case by Garrard C°. With handwritten card in pencil "Commander of the Order of the British Empire Given by Lord William Tyrrell, Ambassador to Paris, October 3, 1931". We join a purple tie, of the 1st type. Height. Height : 10 cm Gross weight : 45 g Expert : Gaëtan Brunel. Provenance : Léon Bassée, former owner of the newspaper of Douai, appointed in 1927 chief of the political service and administrator of the Havas Agency which will become the French Office of Information (OFI) then the France-Presse Agency (AFP) in 1944. Léon Bassée followed the official trips of French presidents and ministers abroad. It was on these occasions that he received decorations. In 1929, he collaborated on the last interviews of Clémenceau which were published the day after the latter's death under the title "Le Testament politique du Tigre".