Double-headed eagle, relief, 2nd half of 19th century

The double-headed eagle, as deployed in the arms of state after the Compromise of 1867. The escutcheon displays the Austrian ‘Bindenschild’ flanked by the Habsburg dynastic arms, a red lion and the arms of the House of Lorraine. Above the heads of the eagle is the Austrian imperial crown. The example shown here once graced the sign of a tobacconist’s, demonstrating how ubiquitous this symbol of Habsburg rule was in the old Monarchy.