Gerry's Collection
of Antique Wax Seal Stamps
The Black Collection
The wax seal stamps are regrouped in various sections to easily explore the collection.
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This beautiful seal stamp belonged to Joseph Marie d’Albert De Roquevaux. Born in Aubagne in 1764, he was the son of Albert, Lord of Roquevaux, and Elisabeth Rose Daniel, his second wife. He married Marie Geneviève Victoire Charlotte Dévote de Grimaldi in 1781. Joseph Marie d’Albert de Roquevaux concluded his career as Captain of a frigate in 1814 and retired in 1817. The family claims descent from the Alberti family, from which they inherited the arms: Azure, four chains Or, issuing from the angles of the shield and joined at the center by an annulet Argent. The d'Albert de Luynes is a homonymous family.
Dating from the 19th century, this is an alliance stamp belonging to a member of the Cais (or Chiaïs) de Pierlas family. The Cais family, Counts of Pierlas, is one of the oldest noble families in Nice and Provence, with roots dating back to the 13th century (circa 1200). By the late 18th century, the Cais family owned one of the most beautiful palaces in Old Nice, reflecting their prominence and influence in the region. Over the centuries, they contributed significantly to civic and military life, serving both the city of Nice and the army of the Duke of Savoy. Hyppolyte was an army officer and the first consul of Nice in 1820. He was also a talented sculptor and painter. One of his notable contributions was designing the façade of the Church of Cimiez, where the family tomb is located. In the mid-19th century, following the annexation of Nice to France in 1860, the family, unwilling to remain under French rule, relocated to Piedmont.
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The seal stamp was bought from Brussels, but I have not been able to identify the family that owned it. We can see bees on the shield that belonged to a noblewoman. In French heraldry, bees were famously used by Napoleon Bonaparte to evoke the Merovingian dynasty and symbolize royal continuity. In Belgium bees are usually symbolic rather than traditional and can symbolize industry and diligence, especially in arms granted to bourgeois families, guilds, or new nobility after the 18th century.
This stamp depicts the arms of the de Bailly and the Tréton de Vaujuas-Langan families. It is difficult to identify the exact owner of a stamp, especially when variations in the coat of arms occured over the generations. The de Bailly arms have not changed, but the Tréton de Vaujuas-Langan arms on this stamp appear with a cinquefoil (five-petaled flower) instead of a wheel. I believe that this stamp belonged to Aimée Pierrette Charlotte de Bailly, the daughter of Charles Gaspard, Marquis of Fresnay. She and her husband probably adopted the cinquefoil instead of the wheel as a mark of cadency. Aimée Pierrette was the wife of Louis, Marquis of Vaujuas-Langan. Louis was the son of Jacques Tréton de Vaujuas and Émilie de Langan du Boisfévrier, whose arms were Sable and charged with a lion. While Louis adopted a quartered coat of arms combining the arms of his parents, Aimée Pierrette Charlotte chose to display the arms of her husband's paternal lineage only.
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The matrix of this stamp from Hungary is octagonal, which was quite popular for personal or family seals from the late 17th to 19th centuries. The left side of the parted shield is a rather traditional lion rampant. The rights side is a more complex image. It appears to be a tower or castle (a common element in Central European heraldry, especially Hungary), possible on a triple mount, which is a part of the coat of arms of Hungary. Above the tower we can see additional symbols that could be birds.
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Gerry's Collection of Antique Seal Stamps.