RING OF LOYALTY OF THE COMPANY OF THE "HORSE GRENADIERS" OF THE KING'S MILITARY HOUSE, BELONGING TO B. SMIDTTE, Restoration. 33902

RING OF FIDELITY FROM THE COMPANY OF THE "GRENADIERS À CHEVAL" OF THE KING'S MILITARY HOUSEHOLD, OWNED BY B. SMIDTTE, Restoration. 33902

Ring of the Company of the "Grenadiers à cheval." Gilded copper, adorned with foliage and coats of arms. Vermeil setting with a blazing grenade and the motto "Undique terror," "Undique lethum," and "Honneur et Fidélité" in coats of arms (partial inscription remaining). Inside, two crossed and engraved hands: "Mis de la Rochejaquelein" and "Smidtte .B 1815."

France.
Restoration period.
Very good condition.

NOTE:
With the unexpected return of the Emperor to France in February 1815, Louis XVIII left Paris for Ghent.

The rings with the two crossed swords:
The soldiers of the royal army who followed him to Belgium received a certificate signed by the Duke of Berry, attesting that they had been part of this army. The officers decided to have a ring made bearing two crossed swords with the motto "ma vie au roi, mon cœur aux dames" ("My life to the king, my heart to the ladies"). "This ring, which has just been made, also contains the initial letters 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 place where they crossed the border, is also engraved on it." Among the few known examples, the complete motto always reads "à dieu mon âme ma vie au roi, mon cœur aux dames, l’honneur à moi" ("to God my soul, my life to the king, my heart to the ladies, the honor to me"). Monsieur Brechemin, a jeweler at the Palais-Royal, gallery des Bons-Enfants, no. 128, is responsible for their making and keeps a register to prevent any errors. These rings are only made or given upon presentation of the certificate.

• A ring belonged to Jacques Brasseur, a conductor of the artillery train in the companies of the King's Bodyguards. It is dated on the setting: Ghent, March 17, 1815. The inside is engraved with "Brasseur Jacques artillery conductor of the royal Guard," along with a shield bearing the initials: L, M.T, P, A, F, C. This conductor was probably part of the artillery train crews and their teams in the companies of the Bodyguards.
• Another specimen is dated March 25, 1815, with the setting being a small oval hinged box serving as a reliquary. It bears the inscription "Mis de Monpezat, Major officer of the Mre de la Gre," and at the level of the setting, in a heart-shaped coat of arms, the capital letters L. MT. P. A. F. Similarly, another specimen from March 1815 belonged to Gérard de Contamine d’Arimont, a Bodyguard of the King. On a ring of the same model from the Valles (or Hozier) family, the setting also forms a small reliquary box, dated "Ypres 25 March 1815."
• An item from the former Thierry Marais collection attributed to a Bodyguard of the King.
• Three other specimens in private collections.
• An item attributed to G.M.G. Herman, with "GAND. 3 May 1815" inscribed around the setting.
• A ring given to Louis François Xavier Duliège d’Aunis (or d’Arrest), a light horseman of the King's Military Household, awarded on May 24, 1815 (private collection).
• A ring given to Ferdinand de Cacheleu (1784), a Bodyguard of the King, inscribed "Ghent, 28 May 1815."
• A ring given to the Chevalier de Canolle, dated "Ghent / March 1815," adorned with a miniature of Louis XVIII on the base of the setting.
• Two rings given to Vicomte d’Hardouineau, aide-de-camp of Louis XVIII, Bodyguard of the King, one dated May 24, 1815, and the other May 25, 1815, in Ypres.

The specific type rings for the King's Household:
As Gabriel Cottreau wrote in 1904 in an article published in the journal La Sabretache: "The Restoration is the only period in our history where military personnel were seen wearing rings recalling either their service in a corps or their participation in a campaign. This custom 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 the grenadiers à cheval, mainly at the time these units were disbanded." Upon the disbandment of Louis XVIII's Red Household, the officers received, as a rallying sign, a gold ring with the setting bearing the distinctive emblem of the company. For example, the musketeers' rings were decorated with the cross of each Company, with the number 1 or 2 in the center of the cross; for the Gendarmes, Jupiter's spindle was adorned with the company's motto "Quo jubet iratus Jupiter;" for the Light Horsemen, the fleur-de-lis thunderbolt with the motto "Sensère Gigantes" and below it, the company's creation date "1593"; the ring for the grenadiers à cheval was in silver or vermeil with a flaming grenade.
These rings are rare, and 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 copy was reproduced in the early notebooks of La Sabretache (perhaps the same specimen from the Brunon collection?). Gabriel Cottreau, in the article mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, wrote: "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 at being among true French knights, had trays of silver rings brought in 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 setting in the shape of a heraldic shield bearing fanciful coat of arms whose meaning has always eluded us."
• A specimen of the Grenadiers à Cheval model belonged to Perrot.
• A specimen of the Grenadiers à Cheval model belonged to Delessert.
• Lieutenant-Colonel Titeux, in his History of the King's Household, describes a ring that belonged to the Count de Baillon, with the inside of the ring engraved with the initials "L.M.T.P.A.P.," further down "Count de Baillon, Mousquetaire Noir."
• A specimen of the Grenadiers à Cheval model belonged to J. Bondele (silver setting).
• A specimen of the Grenadiers à Cheval model belonged to J. Galabert (vermeil setting).
• A specimen of the Grenadiers à Cheval model belonged to Louis Mougin, a Bodyguard of the King in 1822 (copper setting).
• A gilded bronze specimen 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), surrounded by two cartridges engraved with "Honor" and "Fidelity," with the inside adorned with a raised faith, originating from the Canolle family.

• A specimen of the Grenadiers à Cheval model belonged to B Smidtte.

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