Ring of loyalty of the company of the "Horse Grenadiers" of the King's Military Household, belonging to J. Bondele, Restoration era.

LOYALTY RING OF THE COMPANY OF THE "GRENADIERS À CHEVAL" OF THE KING'S MILITARY HOUSEHOLD, BELONGING TO J. BONDELE, RESTORATION PERIOD.

Ring of the Company of the "Grenadiers à cheval." Gilt copper, adorned with foliage and coats of arms. Silver setting with a shining grenade and the motto "Undique temor", "Undique lethum", and "Honneur et Fidélité" within shields (partial inscription remains). Inside, two crossed and engraved hands with "Mis de la Rochejaquelein" and "Bondele. J. 1815."

Good condition, wear from use.

France.

Restoration period.


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

The rings with two crossed swords:
The military personnel of the royal army who followed him to Belgium received a certificate signed by the Duke of Berry, acknowledging their service in 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 for the king, my heart for the ladies"). "This ring, which has just been created, also includes 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 ring also bears the name of the recipient, along with the date and place where they crossed the border." Among the few known examples, the complete motto is always "à dieu mon âme ma vie au roi, mon cœur aux dames, l’honneur à moi."

Specific rings for the King's Household:
As Gabriel Cottreau wrote in 1904, in an article published in the review La Sabretache: "The Restoration is the only period in our history where we have seen military personnel wearing rings that either commemorate their service in a unit or their participation in a campaign. This practice originated in the King's Household and spread to the red companies: gendarmes, chevau-légers, mousquetaires, and the company of the grenadiers à cheval, especially when these units were disbanded." Upon the disbandment of Louis XVIII's Red Household, the officers of the companies received, as a sign of loyalty, a gold ring featuring the emblem of their specific unit. The rings of the Mousquetaires were decorated with the cross of each company, with the number 1 or 2 in the center of the cross; for the Gendarmes, the Jupiter's spindle was adorned with the company's motto "Quo jubet iratus Jupiter"; for the Chevau-Légers, the fleurs-de-lis-festooned thunderbolt with the motto "Sensère Gigantes" and below, the company's foundation date "1593"; and the ring for the Grenadiers à cheval was either 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 Musée de l'Armée possesses, in its collection, a ring of the Grenadiers à Cheval (currently exhibited at the Château de l'Empéri in Salon-de-Provence); a second exemplar was featured in the early issues of La Sabretache (possibly the same ring from the Brunon collection). Gabriel Cottreau, in the aforementioned article, stated: "It is a tradition in our paternal family, where we had a great-uncle who was a mousquetaire in 1814 and 1815, that just a few days before ceasing their service, the mousquetaires were presented by their leaders to the Duchess of Angoulême to bid her farewell. During this audience, the princess, after expressing her satisfaction at being in the midst of true French knights, ordered trays laden with silver rings and distributed them to the mousquetaires. My great-uncle was from the 2nd company, which would explain the metal of the ring that is still preserved by his descendants. The ring is plain, with a shield-shaped setting bearing fanciful armorial bearings whose meaning has always eluded us."

Lieutenant-Colonel Titeux, in his History of the King's Household, describes a ring that belonged to Count de Baillon; in fact, this ring is identical to the one presented in our catalog, but the interior of the ring is engraved with the initials "L.M.T.P.A.P." further indicating "Count de Baillon, Black Mousquetaire." Other identical rings that belonged to the Grenadiers à Cheval include J. Bondele (silver setting) and J. Galabert (gilt setting), a ring owned by Louis Mougin, Guard of the King in 1822 (copper setting). A gilt 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 "Honneur" and "Fidélité," the interior embellished with raised faith, originating from the Canolle family.

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