LOYALTY RING OF THE COMPANY OF THE "GRENADIERS À CHEVAL" OF THE KING'S MILITARY HOUSE, BELONGING TO J.M DELESSERT, Restoration. 29894

LOYALTY RING OF THE COMPANY OF THE "GRENADIERS À CHEVAL" OF THE KING'S MILITARY HOUSE, BELONGING TO J.M DELESSERT, Restoration. 29894

Ring of the Company of the "Grenadiers à cheval." Gilded copper, adorned with foliage and coats of arms. Vermeil setting with a shining grenade and the motto "Undique temor," "Undique lethum," and "Honor and Fidelity" in coats of arms (partial inscription). Inside, two crossed and engraved hands with "Mis de la Rochejaquelein" and "Delessert.J.M. 1815" inscribed.
Weight: 11.4 g.

France.
Restoration.
Good condition, signs of wear.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Upon the unexpected return of the Emperor to France in February 1815, Louis XVIII left Paris for Ghent.

Two-sword rings:
The military of the royal army who followed him to Belgium received a certificate signed by the Duke of Berry, attesting to their service in that army. The officers decided to have rings made featuring two crossed swords with the motto: "my life to the king, my heart to the ladies." "This ring that has just been made also contains the initials of the royal family: L, MT, P, A, F, C (Louis XVIII, Marie-Thérèse Duchess of Angoulême, Louis-Philippe Duke of Orléans, Antoine Duke of Angoulême, Ferdinand Duke of Berry, Charles, Count of Artois). The name of the person for whom it was made, along with the date and location where they crossed the border, is also engraved." Among the few known examples, the complete motto is always "to God my soul, my life to the king, my heart to the ladies, the honor to myself." Mr. Brechemin, a jeweler at the Palais-Royal, gallery des Bons-Enfants, no. 128, was tasked with their production, keeping a register to prevent any mistakes. These rings are only made or delivered upon presentation of the certificate.
- One ring belonged to Jacques Brasseur, conductor of the artillery train in the King's Guard Companies. It is dated on the setting: Ghent, March 17, 1815, and inside is engraved "Brasseur Jacques artillery conductor of the Royal Guard" with a crest bearing the initials: L, M.T, P, A, F, C. This conductor was likely with the artillery trains and their teams in the Guard Companies.
- Another example is dated March 25, 1815, with the setting made as a small oval hinged box serving as a reliquary; it bears the inscription "Mis de Monpezat, Major staff officer of the Mre de la Gre," and at the level of the setting, in a heart-shaped crest, the capital letters L. MT. P. A. F. Similar to another example from March 1815, belonging to Gérard de Contamine d'Arimont, Guard of the King's Bodyguards. A ring of the same model from the Valles (or Hozier) family also features a small reliquary box for the setting, dated "Ypres, March 25, 1815."
- One from the former Thierry Marais collection attributed to a guard of the King's Bodyguards.
- Three others in private collections.
- One attributed to G.M.G. Herman, with "GHENT. May 3, 1815" around the setting.
- A ring given to Louis François Xavier Duliège d'Aunis (or d'Arrest), a light horseman of the King's Military House, awarded on May 24, 1815 (private collection).
- A ring given to Ferdinand de Cacheleu (1784), a bodyguard of the King, on "GHENT, May 28, 1815."
- A ring given to Chevalier de Canolle dated "Ghent / March 1815," featuring a miniature of Louis XVIII in the underside of the setting.
- Two rings given to Viscount d'Hardouineau, aide-de-camp of Louis XVIII, Guard of the King's Bodyguards, one dated May 24, 1815, and the other May 25, 1815 at Ypres.

Specific rings for the King's Household:
As Gabriel Cottreau wrote in 1904 in an article published in the La Sabretache magazine: "The Restoration is the only period in our history where soldiers have been seen wearing rings recalling their service in a unit or their participation in a campaign. This practice originated in the King's Household and spread to the companies of the Red Household: gendarmes, light horsemen, and musketeers, as well as in the company of grenadiers à cheval, especially when these units were disbanded." Upon the disbanding of Louis XVIII's Red Household, officers of the companies received, as a sign of rallying, a gold ring with the setting depicting the distinctive badge of the company. Rings for the Musketeers were adorned with the cross of each Company, with the number 1 or 2 at the center; for the Gendarmes, the Jupiter's spindle featured the company's motto "Quo jubet iratus Jupiter"; for the Light Horsemen, the lightning bolt fleur-de-lis with the motto "Sensère Gigantes" and below it, the company's establishment date "1593"; the ring for the Grenadiers à cheval was made of silver or vermeil with a flaming grenade.
These rings are rare, thanks to the prestigious collections of Raoul and Jean Brunon acquired by the state in 1967, the Army Museum has, in its collections, a ring of the Grenadiers à cheval (currently exhibited at the Château de l’Empéri in Salon de Provence); a second example was reproduced in the early Sabretache notebooks (it may be the same example from the Brunon collection). Gabriel Cottreau, in the article mentioned at the beginning of our text, wrote: "It is a tradition in our paternal family, where we had a great-uncle musketeer in 1814 and 1815, that, a few days before the end of their service, the musketeers were presented by their leaders to the Duchess of Angoulême to bid her farewell. During this ceremony, the princess, after expressing her satisfaction to be among true French knights, had trays of silver rings brought and distributed them to the musketeers. My great-uncle was from the 2nd company, which would explain the metal of the ring still preserved by his descendants. The ring is plain, with a shield-shaped setting carrying fanciful coat of arms whose meaning has always escaped us." Two other known rings belonged to grenadiers Perrot, Delessert, and Galabert.
Lieutenant Colonel Titeux, in his History of the King's Household, describes a ring that belonged to the Count of Baillon, this example is identical to the one presented in our catalog, but the inside of the ring is engraved with the initials "L.M.T.P.A.P." further "Count de Baillon, Black Musketeer."
Other identical examples belonged to the Grenadiers à cheval: J. Bondele (setting in silver) and J. Galabert (setting in vermeil), a ring that belonged to Louis Mougin, Guard of the King's Bodyguards in 1822 (setting in copper). A golden bronze ring attributed to the grenadiers à cheval, with a circular setting adorned with a flaming grenade surrounded by the corps motto "Undique Terror, Undique Letum" (everywhere terror, everywhere death), encircled by two cartridges engraved with "Honor" and "Fidelity," the inside adorned with a faith emblem, originating from the Canolle family.

SOURCES:
- History of the King's Military House, Eugène Titeux, Paris, 1890.
- Military rings of 1815 and 1824, Gabriel Cottreau, Carnets de la Sabretache, Paris, March 1904.
- The ring in France throughout history, Maximin Deloche, Librairie de Paris, Firmin-Didot et Cie, 56 rue Jacob.