Bronze stamp seal Justice of the Peace canton Gourin Morbihan Republic 19th century
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Bronze seal or stamp*, engraved "Judge of the Peace of the Canton of Gourin - MORBIHAN", with the Allegory of the Republic holding the lictor's fasces, vintage 19th century.
This seal is in good general condition.
Please note: play between seal and handle, dirt, small shocks and wear over time on the seal, see photos.
Collector's item, the oldest examples of which date from four millennia BC. The stamp was first used to affix the personal mark of a character to guarantee the contents of a box or an envelope, the authenticity of a document. We also used the term seal. The small personal stamp has in fact been used in Europe since the Middle Ages. It can be a ring mounted with an intaglio of hard stone, or a gold bezel engraved in hollow (signet rings are nothing else!). But more numerous are the hafted seals, formed of a hard stone engraved in intaglio: carnelian, garnet, sapphire, rock crystal, agate; some are even antique intaglios. These small stamps are sometimes jewels that are hung on a chain or on the chatelaine; like boxes, it is often a gift item. These seals vary in size: we find tiny ones set in pretty chased gold settings, others 1.5 to 2cm in diameter mounted on a handle of gold, pomponne, chased silver, mother-of-pearl, hard stone, wood...