French, Seed Merchants, Vilmorin, Paris, Image & Found by Christopher Leach.
Found in a field in Cliffe Woods, Kent, 17mm.
N: 4 / A / PARIS, QUA(I DE LA MÉGI)SSBIE + around // & CIE, VILMORIN AN... around
Identified by Philippe Lanez, BOUTIQUE HISTORIQUE VILMORIN, "The story of Vilmorin is dense and exceptional - For more than two centuries, personalities of great value have left an indelible mark in the world of agriculture and horticulture, to make it the most famous brand in France.
1743: the beginning of a long dynasty. That year, Claude Geoffroy is received Mistress Grainière. She runs a shop in Paris, Quai de la Mégisserie, under the sign of Coq de la Bonne Foy. From his marriage in 1745 with Pierre d'Andrieux, botanist of King Louis XV, was born a girl, Adelaide, who in 1774 married Philippe-Victoire de-Vilmorin.
In 1775, the house takes the name of Vilmorin-Andrieux, name it will keep until 1986.
Today, nearly 273 years later, the Vilmorin store is still in the same place, with the same desire to perpetuate the spirit of service and passion of the garden in the heart of Paris."
From Wikipedia, "Vilmorin is a French seed producer. The company has a long history in France, where it was family-controlled for almost two centuries, and today exists as a publicly traded company owned principally by agro-industrial cooperative Groupe Limagrain, the largest plant breeding and seed company in the European Union. ... Vilmorin was founded as a plant and seed boutique in 1743 by seed expert Claude Geoffroy and her husband Pierre Andrieux, the chief seed supplier and botanist to King Louis XV. The store was located on the quai de la Mégisserie, a street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. In 1774, their daughter married botany enthusiast Philippe-Victoire Levêque de Vilmorin (1746-1804). Together, they revived the stores and created the Vilmorin-Andrieux House, which later became Vilmorin-Andrieux and Company under the leadership of their son, Philippe André de Vilmorin (1776-1862). Philippe-Victoire de Vilmorin began importing trees and exotic plants into Europe in 1766, starting with the American tulip tree, the domesticated beet, and the rutabaga."
