LOYALTY RING THAT BELONGED to Baron Étienne Martin PERROT de MOUSSEAU, lieutenant-aide-major in the company of the "GRENADEERS ON HORSEBACK" OF THE KING'S MILITARY HOUSE, Restoration. 30450

LOYALTY RING THAT BELONGED to Baron Étienne Martin de PERROT de MOUSSEAU, lieutenant-aide-major in the company of the "GRENADEERS ON HORSEBACK" OF THE KING'S MILITARY HOUSE, Restoration. 30450

Ring from the Company of the "Grenadiers on Horseback." Gilded copper, decorated with foliage and coats of arms. Vermilion collet with a shining grenade and the motto "Undique temor", "Undique lethum" and "Honor and Fidelity" in coats of arms (remnants of an inscription). Inside, two crossed and engraved hands "Mis de la Rochejaquelein" and "Bon Perrot. E.M." Weight: 13.6 g.

France.
Restoration.
Very good condition.

BIOGRAPHY:
PERROT de MOUSSEAU Etienne Martin, Baron (1763-1826).
Etienne Martin Perrot de Mousseau was born in Avignon (Vaucluse) on March 11, 1763. He participated in the campaigns of the Revolution and the Empire. As chief squadron of the Guard Grenadiers on Horseback, he rose to the rank of divisional commander during the Restoration.
He passed away on May 29, 1826, at the Château de Mousseau in Orbigny (Indre-et-Loire). He rests alongside his son-in-law, Jacques Pierre Marie Guyon, Count of Montlivault (1786-1859), a general.
Titles: Knight of the Empire (August 20, 1808), Baron of the Empire (May 3, 1810).
Honors: Officer (June 14, 1804), Commander (November 12, 1814) of the Legion of Honor; Knight of St. Louis.
Baron PERROT de MOUSSEAU Etienne Martin, Marshal of the Royal Camps and Armies, Commander of the Legion of Honor, Knight of St. Louis, former senior officer of the Imperial Guard, Grenadiers on Horseback of the King's House, born in Avignon on May 11, 1763, passed away at the Château de Mousseau on April 20, 1840, participated in campaigns in the Rhineland, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and Austria, including battles at Arcole, Mondovi, Marengo, Ulm, and Austerlitz.
Françoise COSTALIN Baroness PERROT de MOUSSEAU, born in Romans (Drôme), on July 1774, passed away at the Château de Mousseau on April 20, 1840.
Jacques Pierre Marie GUYON, Count of MONTLIVAULT, Brigadier General, Commander of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor, Knight of [...] born at the Château de Montlivault (Loir-et-Cher) on May 26, 1786, passed away in Paris on December 27, 1859, participated in campaigns from year 14, through 1806, 1807, 1808 with the 2nd Corps of the Grande Armée, 1809 in Italy, 1810 in [...], 1811 and 1812 in [...], defense of Portugal, 1813 and 1814 in the Army of Germany, and 1830 in Africa. He defended Magdeburg, Chonbon, boldly retreated from I[...], Klein-Otterslebert, and the Emperor's palace Prince of Algiers.
Laure Fanny Martine, PERROT de MOUSSEAU, Cesse de GUYON de MONTLIVAULT, born on December 6, 1808, passed away on August 30, 1871.
Ulm Raap Wagram Jascich, cavalry combat, near Fuerte Guenaldo, daring cavalry charge, [...] Guards, Salamamoux.

HISTORY:
Faced with the sudden return of the Emperor to France in February 1815, Louis XVIII left Paris for Ghent.

Type Rings with Two Swords:
The military members of the royal army who followed him to Belgium received a certificate signed by the Duke of Berry, stating that they were part of that army. The officers decided to have a ring made bearing two crossed swords with the motto: "my life to the king, my heart to the ladies." "This ring, just executed, also contains the royal family's initials: 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). It was also engraved with the name of the recipient, along with the date and place they crossed the border." Among the few known examples, the complete motto is always "to God my soul, my life to the king, my heart to the ladies, honor to me." Monsieur Brechemin, a jeweler at the Palais-Royal, Galerie des Bons-Enfants, n° 128, was tasked with making them, keeping a register to prevent any mistakes. These rings were only made or given upon presentation of the certificate.
- One ring belonged to Jacques Brasseur, artillery train conductor in the companies of the King's Guard Corps. It is dated on the collet: Ghent, March 17, 1815, with the inscription inside "Brasseur Jacques artillery conductor of the Royal Guard" along with a coat of arms bearing the initials: L, M.T, P, A, F, C. This conductor was likely in the artillery train equipment that existed along with their harnesses in the King's Guards companies.
- Another copy is dated March 25, 1815, with the collet consisting of a small hinged oval box serving as a reliquary; it bears the inscription "Mis de Monpezat, Major staff officer of the Mre of the Gre," and at the height of the collet, in a heart-shaped coat of arms, the uppercase letters L. MT. P. A. F. Just like another copy from March 1815, which belonged to Gérard de Contamine d'Arimont, Guardsman of the King's Corps. On a ring of the same model from the Valles family (or Hozier), the collet also serves as a small reliquary, dated "Ypres 25 March 1815."
- A copy from the former Thierry Marais collection attributed to a King's Guard.
- Three other copies in private collections.
- A ring given to Louis François Xavier Duliège d'Aunis (or d'Arrest), light horseman of the King's Military House, awarded on May 24, 1815 (private collection).
- A ring given to Ferdinand de Cacheleu (1784), King's Guard, at "Ghent, May 28, 1815."
- A ring given to the Chevalier de Canolle dated "Ghent / March 1815," adorned on the bottom of the collet with a miniature of Louis XVIII.
- Two rings given to the Viscount d'Hardouineau, aide-de-camp of Louis XVIII, King's Guard, one dated May 24, 1815, and the other on May 25, 1815 in Ypres.

Specific Type Rings for the King's House:
As written by Gabriel Cottreau in 1904 in an article published in the review "La Sabretache": "The Restoration period is the only period in our history where soldiers were seen wearing rings recalling their service in a corps or their participation in a campaign. This practice originated in the King's House and spread to the companies of the Red House: gendarmes, light horsemen, musketeers, and grenadiers on horseback, mainly as these corps were being disbanded." Upon the disbandment of Louis XVIII's Red House, the officers of the companies received, as a rallying sign, a gold ring with the collet bearing the distinctive emblem of the company. The Musketeer's rings were adorned with the cross of each Company, with the number 1 or 2 at the center of the cross; for the Gendarmes, Jupiter's spindle was embellished with the company motto "Quo jubet iratus Jupiter;" for the Light Horsemen, the thunderbolt fleur-de-lis with the motto "Sensère Gigantes" and below that, the company's creation date "1593"; the ring for the Grenadiers on horseback was either in silver or gilt 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 Museum of the Army possesses a ring from the Grenadiers on Horseback in its collections (currently exhibited at the Château de l'Empéri in Salon de Provence); a second copy has been reproduced in the first notebooks of La Sabretache (perhaps the same copy from the Brunon collection?). Gabriel Cottreau, in the article mentioned at the beginning of our text, writes: "It is a tradition in our paternal family, where we had a great-uncle as a Musketeer in 1814 and 1815, that a few days before ending their service, the Musketeers were presented by their leaders to the Duchess of Angoulême to bid her farewell. During this audience, this princess, after expressing her satisfaction in being among true French knights, had trays full 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 collet shaped like a heraldic shield with fanciful coat of arms whose meaning has always escaped us." Two others are known, belonging to the grenadiers Perrot, Delessert, and Galabert. Lieutenant Colonel Titeux, in his "History of the King's House," describes a ring that belonged to the Count of Baillon; in fact, this copy is identical to the ring presented in our catalog, but the inside of the ring is engraved with the initials "L.M.T.P.A.P.," further down "Count de Baillon, Black Musketeer."
Other identical copies belong to the Grenadiers on Horseback: J. Bondele (silver collet) and J. Galabert (vermilion collet), a ring belonging to Louis Mougin, King's Guard in 1822 (copper collet). A gilt bronze copy attributed to the Grenadiers on Horseback, with a circular collet adorned with a flaming grenade surrounded by the corps' motto "Undique Terror, Undique Letum" (everywhere terror, everywhere death), surrounded by two cartridges engraved with "Honor" and "Fidelity," the interior decorated with a relief of faith, 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.