Gerry's Collection
of Antique Wax Seal Stamps
The White Collection
Seal Stamps with White Handles in Bone, Horn, Ivory, and Mother-of-Pearl
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This is a double-ended wax seal stamp, an elegant and relatively uncommon type of noble seal. Such designs were particularly fashionable in the late 18th to early 19th century, especially in France, Italy, and parts of Germany. This configuration was most often used to display the heraldic arms of a married couple, one end bearing the husband’s arms, the other those of his wife’s family or, as in this example, a monogram.
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This seal stamp with an elaborate ivory handle belonged to a member of the de Lastic family. The House of Lastic is one of the oldest families of Auvergne. Its patronymic name is Bompar. The Château de Lastic was situated on a hill between Saint-Flour and Brioude. This family produced distinguished figures throughout the centuries, among them Jean de Lastic, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The lineage of this house has been documented since 1211. The arms of the lastic family are simple: Gules, a Fess Argent. But behind the shield on the engraving, we can see the cross of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller. An eight-point Maltese Cross, also called the Cross of Saint John, representing a Hospitaller’s virtues: Reverence for the Church, piety, loyalty, courage, honor and glory, caring for the sick or poor, disregard for death, and honesty.
Charles Renaud de Lastic, chevalier de Saint Jean de Jérusalem, 1728
Antique seal stamp of a member of the de Lastic family,
from Auvergne in France
Jean de Lastic, Grand Maitre de Rhodes
19th century, Chateau de Versailles
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The handle of this nice seal stamp is hand-carved in ivory, with Rococo-style ornamentation, floral motifs and volutes. This style was especially popular in the mid to late 18th century. Ivory handles of this quality were typically associated with noble or high bourgeois ownership, as ivory was expensive and symbolic of refinement. The coat of arms could be read as: "Arms: Per fess Argent and Azure, in chief a lion rampant, supported by a lion and a dog (?), the whole ensigned with a coronet of rank.
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This refined antique seal stamp, with its delicately carved ivory handle crowned by a finely engraved comital coronet, bears the alliance arms of General Pierre-Louis Charles de Failly and Félicité de Frézals de Bourfaud. The de Failly family, originally from Lorraine, belonged to the military nobility of service, noted for their loyalty to France and the Empire. Pierre-Louis Charles de Failly (1810–1892) served as Minister of War under Napoleon. His wife, Félicité de Frézals de Bourfaud, came from an old noble family of Languedoc, whose roots reach back to the ancien régime. The Frézals de Bourfaud were landowners and magistrates, bearing arms of ancient extraction, emblematic of southern France’s hereditary nobility. The ivory handle mirrors the refinement of mid-19th-century aristocratic taste, making this stamp a small work of art.
General Pierre-Louis Charles de Failly
1810-1892
Wax seal engraved with the alliance arms of General Pierre-Louis Charles de Failly and Félicité de Frézals de Bourfaud.
Jean-Louis-Bernard de Frezals de Bourfaud
1708-1786
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This nicely carved seal stamp is engraved with the alliance arms of Louis Tardy de Montravel and Marie Amélie Vétillart du Ribert. The Tardy de Montravel family belonged to the ancient nobility of Vivarais (today’s Ardèche), long associated with local seigneurial and military service. Originally styled vicomtes de Montravel, the family derived its title from the fief of Montravel near Tournon-sur-Rhône, a vicomté held since at least the seventeenth century. Under the Bourbon Restoration, the family was recognized with the higher title of Comte de Montravel, reflecting both its loyalty to the monarchy and its service in the royal navy and administration. Among its most renowned members was Louis-Marie-François Tardy de Montravel (1811–1864), rear-admiral, explorer, and governor of New Caledonia and French Guiana. The bride’s family, the Vétillart du Ribert, originated in Maine and the Sarthe, where it rose through commerce, public office, and the professional elite during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Their heraldic arms, often quartered or impaled with those of allied provincial nobles, signaled the family’s entry into the noblesse de robe and later the landed gentry. The marriage thus reflected a typical alliance of the age: the union of an older military aristocracy with an ascending bourgeois family of education and means. The seal was acquired together with the description, hand-written by their son Henri.
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Antoine-Jean-Louis de Tardy de Montravel (1823 - 1909)
Handwritten note: Seal in silver and ivory of my mother, born Amelie V. de Ribert. Signature of Henri, youngest son of Antoine Louis and Marie Amelie. "Arms: de Tardy de Montravel and Vetillart du Ribert.".
Louise Vétillart du Ribert and her daughter Louise, the future comtesse de Lezay-Marnesia
Coat of arms of Antoine-Jean-Louis de Tardy, vicomte de Montravel
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Jean François Damien Tardy de Montravel
(1744 - 1805)
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This very small 19th-century seal stamp combines refined craftsmanship with elegant symbolism. It belonged to a member of the Boys d’Hautussac de Pravier family. The handle, carved from ivory, is decorated with finely sculpted grape clusters and vine leaves, motifs traditionally associated with abundance and Bacchic inspiration. The mount and matrix are made of silver. The coat of arms engraved on the matrix is described as follows: Per pale: in the first, gold with a green wood in base, and in chief a blue field charged with a rising silver stag (Hautussac); in the second, red with a gold bend accompanied by two silver garden lilies (Pravieux). Because of the extremely small size of the seal, the heraldic details are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. Proper identification of the arms requires a magnified image, without which many of the finer elements remain hard to discern.
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This ivory seal stamp belonged to General Charles-Étienne-François Ruty (1774 - 1828), one of Napoleon’s foremost artillery officers. Educated at the artillery school of Châlons, he served from the Revolutionary campaigns through the Empire, earning distinction in Egypt, Spain, and at Friedland. Created Baron in 1808 and Count of the Empire in 1813, he embodied the meritocratic spirit of Napoleonic France. After 1814 he continued to serve under the restored Bourbon kings, receiving the Order of Saint-Louis and the Grand Officer cross of the Legion of Honor, and later sat as a Peer of France. His name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe of Paris, a lasting tribute to his service. Married to Lucie Charlotte Lecocq, he was the father of Anatole de Ruty, also Count and Peer of France. A soldier, engineer, and statesman, he united discipline, intellect, and loyalty to France.
General Charles Etienne Francois Ruty
Arms of Charles Etienne Francois, Count Ruty
Name on the Arc the Triomphe in Paris
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While my collection originates from Europe, this old Siamese ivory seal stamp is of particular interest. Both because its engraving echoes European heraldic composition and because of the significance of its symbols. In European terminology, the arms could be described as: “Tierced per pall: 1. A high ceremonial hat; 2. A chakra; 3. A cannon”. The high ceremonial hat (พระมาลาเส้าสูง) was worn by Siamese royals, nobles and high-ranking officials, especially from the Ayutthaya and early Rattanakosin periods. It is often associated with formal dress, processions, and court rank. The finest examples were adorned with gold and diamonds and trimmed with a bird-of-paradise feather. The chakra pattern (ลายจักร) is a potent emblem in Thai tradition, representing nobility, authority, and the power to govern. In classical Thai art, any form of the chakra or wheel is associated with Royalty and with the capacity to “set things in motion.” It is noteworthy that a white chakra was added to the Siamese flag in the early Rattanakosin period by King Rama I, reserved exclusively for royal use.
High ceremonial hat
Traditional Chakra pattern
Cannons of the Siamese army
The Thai flags
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As indicated by the coat of arms, this stamp most likely belonged to a member of the du Ruel d’Omonville family who married a lady of the Duval family, also known as du Val de Bonneval. Both families were from Normandy. Within the du Ruel lineage, the Fontenil branch became extinct in the 17th century, while the Omonville branch was maintained as noble in 1667. A prominent figure was Pierre du Ruel, Marquis de Beurnonville, whose line shared common ancestry with the du Ruel de Fontenil and du Ruel d’Omonville branches. The presence of a marquis’s coronet engraved on the seal suggests a connection with the Beurnonville line. It is therefore plausible that the seal belonged to descendants of the marquises de Beurnonville, possibly Pierre-Joseph du Ruel and Léopoldine-Alexandrine Duval d’Angoville, who married in the 19th century. The Duval family is a noble house of seigneurial rank (écuyers and seigneurs).
Arms of the du Ruel family, Or, a lion issuant
The arms of the Duval de Bonneval family
Pierre du Ruel, Marquis de Beurnonville
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This antique wax seal stamp has joined my "Masterpieces Collection" because I find the handle very nicely carved. It probably belonged to the extinct Belgian family de Pré who received their letter of nobility from Emperor Charles VI in 1734.
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Looking at the oval shields of the alliance coat of arms engraved on this beautiful seal stamp, we can assume that it belonged to Jeanne de Perrey (1839 - 1925), who was married to Ithier d'Avout (1840 - 1900), Marquis d’Avout. Ithier d’Avout belonged to the old Burgundian noble family d’Avout, made famous by Louis-Nicolas Davout, Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmühl. Although Ithier was not from the ducal branch itself, he descended from the extended noble lineage, which continued to use armorial bearings associated with the family, often simplified or adapted in alliance arms. Jeanne de Perrey came from a noble family whose arms - de gueules, à quatre losanges d'or en bande, accostées de deux croissants d'argent - are less well-known. The de Perrey (or Perrey) family belongs to the category of provincial nobility or notable families, mainly documented in eastern France, such as Burgundy, Franche-Comté, Lorraine.
Leopold-Claude Davout d'Auerstaedt
Coat of arms of the d'Avout family
Louis-Nicolas d'Avout
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Gerry's Collection of Antique Seal Stamps.