French, Flour Bag Seal, Rieffel & Plicque, Image & Found by Len Williams (Fingers).
Found at Carnforth Lancashire, 20mm.
Four-petaled flower head, RIEFFEL & PLICQUE . around // 3 in circular border
From Philippe Lanez, "this seal is obviously for a flour bag. Number 3 stands for quality type.
Mr Rieffel and Mr Plicque were living in Paris in the second half of XIXth century. Legal precedent was born from a lawsuit that they brought against one of their Italian suppliers. Could patented foreigners living in France be judged by a French Tribunal of Commerce, was the question.
'1872, Whereas the Sieur Perfetti father and son, from Barletta, Italia, are brought before the Cour de Céans in respect of a sale allegedly made to the Sieurs Rieffel and Plicque, of Paris, through the intermediary of the Sieur Lavello, their representative, and that they would not execute in Marseille port. That Perfetti father and son propose an exception of incompetence based on the status of foreigners of the parties in question;.../.... On these grounds, The Court of First Instance declared that it had jurisdiction and referred the case to the Court of First Instance on the merits of the case on 19 April. March 19, 1872. — Pres. Mr. CARCASSONNE, Judge. — Plaid. MMrs. HORNBOSTEL for Rieffel and Plicque, DE LA POMMERAYE for the defendants.'
The Perfetti clan argued that Rieffel & Plique were not French. (Possibly from Alsace which had returned to Prussia in 1870).
Indeed, I've found another judgment after the sale, in 1839, of his factory and its outbuildings by a certain André Rieffel, miller in Mittelbergheim, Alsace. That probably explains why there is not any place name on the seal.
... the Paris-Hachette 1904 Almanach gives a certain Mr. RIEFFEL working as miller, living "rue de l'Arbalète", 52 in the 5th Arrondissement, PARIS."
