Gerry's Collection
of Antique Wax Seal Stamps
The Wooden Collection
Antique Seal Stamps Crafted from Precious Woods, including Ebony, Walnut, and Rosewood
This antique stamp belonged to a member of the French de Buissy family, a lineage established in Ponthieu (Somme) from at least the late sixteenth century. At the close of the seventeenth century the family acquired the seigneury of Long, where Honoré-Charles de Buissy commissioned the present château around 1733. The design was entrusted to the architect Charles-Étienne Briseux, noted for his mastery of elegant classical country houses. Conceived not as a fortress but as a refined maison de plaisance, the residence embodied the taste and ambition of a provincial noble family intent on affirming its social standing through architecture. Its opulent decoration and costly embellishments, which far exceeded practical requirements, earned it in popular memory the name "Folie de Buissy".
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Portrait of Pierre de Buissy (1737-1787)
The Chateau de Long, nicknamed "Folie de Buissy"
An unlikely match following intriguing research...
​The alliance coat of arms on this stamp caught my attention. On the dexter (right) side of the engraving appear arms very similar to that of Jacques Imbert-Colomes: D’azur, au croissant d’argent, surmonté d’un soleil d’or. Jacques Imbert-Colomes was French, but ended his life in Somerset, in the southwest of England. He left four children. On the sinister (left) side, we see arms that correspond to the Frankland family, Baronets of Thirkleby in North Yorkshire. One might speculate that a male descendant of Jacques Imbert-Colomes could have married into the Frankland family, especially since certain members of the Franklands did reside in Somerset, such as Sir Thomas Frankland, 5th Baronet (1718-1784). Such a marriage would support the idea that this seal stamp once belonged to a couple uniting the two families. However, this proves rather unlikely. Indeed, the dexter position of the assumed Imbert-Colomes arms would indicate that it is the husband that belonged to the French family. Yet Jacques Imbert-Colomes had only one son who never married. On the Frankland side, there is no trace of a marriage with a descendant of Jacques Imbert-Colomes. Their alliances were primarily with members of the English and American aristocracy. Thus, while the investigation is fascinating, the possibility of a marital union between the two families must be regarded as improbable.​
Jacques Imbert-Colomes
Sir Thomas Frankland, 6th baronet
The daughters of Sir Thomas Frankland
This wooden stamp may have belonged to Gabriel Charles de La Condamine and Augustine Jeanne Marie d’Affry de La Monnoye. The d’Affry de La Monnoye were a branch of the old d’Affry family of Fribourg in Switzerland, a lineage that produced notable military officers and diplomats in French service, among them Louis-Auguste-Augustin, Comte d’Affry (1713 - 1793), Lieutenant General of France and commander of the Swiss Guards. In France, members of the main line were formally recognized with the comital title by the King, often in reward for military service. In collateral branches such as de La Monnoye, however, the title was sometimes used as a titre de courtoisie, a courtesy title rather than a formally registered comté. On Augustine’s arms (Argent, three chevrons Sable), the addition of a red border may represent a mark of cadency, which makes it slightly different from the arms of the rest of the family.
Charles-Marie de la Condamine
Arms of Louis Auguste Augustin d’Affry, Comte d'Affry
Portrait of Louis Auguste Augustin d'Affry
This stamp belonged to François Léon Boscal de Réals de Mornac. The arms correspond to those of his family, from Saintonge and Languedoc, with a branch in Brittany. Rietstap’s Armorial Général notes two variants of their arms, one with an azure field, the other with gules. Both variants share the combination of an uprooted oak, a fleur-de-lis, and two crescents for the Brittany branch. The attribution to François Léon is supported by the presence of the engraved Brassard de Bordeaux, a French military decoration created on 5 June 1815 by the Duke of Angoulême. The inscription 'BORDEAUX 12 MARS 1814' commemorates the day the city of Bordeaux declared allegiance to the Bourbons. Loyalists who supported the Restoration were awarded the Brassard de Bordeaux, a white armband bearing this motto. François Léon Boscal de Réals de Mornac is known to have been among its recipients.
François Léon Boscal de Réals de Mornac
(1783-1858)
The Brassard de Bourdeaux
Duke of Angoulême, wearing the Brassard de Bordeaux, among other decorations
This stamp was acquired from an antique dealer in Nice, France. Research has not yet made it possible to identify the original owner with certainty. However, careful analysis suggests a 17th–18th-century alliance between southern French nobility - possibly a branch of the de Méjanès family - and a German family bearing an eagle on an Or field. The seal may have belonged to a descendant of that union, featuring quartered arms that combine the heraldic symbols of both lineages.
Gerry's Collection of Antique Seal Stamps.