Beautiful seal in silvered and chased bronze that belonged to the Artillery General AULMONT de VERRIERES Nicolas Grégoire (1746-1831). Three-sided handle, chased with scientific attributes and the arts, decorated with three dolphins carrying a globe. Chased steel seal with the coat of arms surmounted by a helmet. T.B.E. First Empire period. Biography : AULMONT de VERRIERES Nicolas Grégoire. Entered the service, in 1762, in the gendarmes of the guard of the king, passes then in the corps of the artillery, is employed as captain with the arsenal of Metz in 1783, and with the same rank and the cross of Saint-Louis, in 1790. Second in command of the engineers, appointed brigade commander on 30 August 1793, served in the army of the Eastern Pyrenees in 1794 and 1795; promoted to brigadier general on 16 October 1795. Served in the army of Italy in 1796, commanding the artillery at the siege of Milan, which capitulated on 29 June. Employed in the Ionian Islands in 1798, he rescued a howitzer on 20 October in front of the fort of Butrinto, where he had remained with only two gunners and a few grenadiers. He manned the gun himself and fired it with such accuracy and speed that he drove back the Turks and Albanians who were advancing to take it. On 10 February 1799, he fought valiantly in a French sortie from Corfu against the Russians and the Turco-Albanians, who were laying siege to it, and managed to recapture a cannon that an enemy party had taken by surprise. On his return to France, he was appointed commander of the artillery of the 17th military division, and was awarded a sabre of honour on the day of 18 Brumaire An VIII (9 November 1799). Employed in General Macdonald's army in 1800, he followed it to the Splugen crossing and took part in all the actions of this campaign. He took part in almost all the campaigns that followed, in the VIIIth corps of the Grande Armée, until 1810, when he was retired after 58 and a half years of service. He was made Commander of the Legion of Honour on 14 June 1804.