French, Mariette, Montauban Seal, Image & Found by Niki Alderson.
Found in West Yorkshire, 18mm.
Five pointed star, PRE MARIETTE.I.C. around // stylised willow tree, MONTAVBAN. around
From Philippe Lanez, "French seal reads MARIETTE. I.C. P.RE (Possibly short form for Père = father = the elder) around a five pointed star usually known for flour mills on french seals. Reverse the place name MONTAUBAN (south-west France not far from Toulouse) around a willow tree. Name from Montalba (White or willows mountain).
They had several wheels that allowed different activities such as flour or fabrics.
We know a new mill was built in 1764:
'The Consuls of Montauban, by deliberation of November 6, 1763, advised to accept the proposal made by a third party, to build a new mill, and the King, taking it into consideration, at the request of Bishop de Gourgues, Intendant of the Generality, authorized, by a decision of the Council of State of April 10, 1764, the Sieur Daniel Mariette, the eldest, merchant, to build it on the left bank of the Tarn, in front of that of the Albarèdes.'
Mr. Mariette is known as a wholesale at the and of the 18th century."
From Paul Cannon, "P. Deffontaines in his 1929 article ‘Montauban étude de géographie urbaine’ states 'Pendant le XVIIIe siècle Montauban est le principal centre textile du Sud-Ouest.' Parcourir les collections. A detailed discussion of the industry is recorded in Edouard Forestié’s article ‘Notice historique fabrication des draps a Montauban du XIV siècle a nos jours’ see Internet Archive. The detailed appendix records the names of those practicing the trade in various years. For 1712 Bernard Mariette and David Mariette; for 1745 Jean Mariette and for 1761 David Mariette see pp 62-3 & 65. None of these explain all the initials separated by dots on the seal before the word MARIETTE. Nonetheless it seems probable to me that this is a cloth seal. ... I have located the following MA thesis by Cathrine Davis of Université Laval (2018) “Threads Across the Atlantic: Tracing the European Origins of Eighteenth-Century Imported Cloth in New France Using Lead Seal Evidence from Three French Colonial Sites.” She notes that the majority of woollen textiles imported into New France [ie Canada] in the 18th century seem to originate from Montauban. In particular see pp110 following. She discusses the role of the Montauban merchants and in particular the Mariette family, naming Pierre and probably Daniel and Etienne Mariette and also seals referring to the Brothers Mariette. See p127 for a summary of the Mariette seals she has located. None of the seals recorded there exactly match BSG.BS.01836. I wonder if the ‘P.RE’ on this seal is an abbreviation for Pierre? Cathrine Davis, 2018."
Also, "here is a link to another MARIETTE seal appearing to read IZAAC. I don't seem to be able to get an image of the other face - SCELLER .....ROYALE.OU FÉODALE....sac de plomb - EUR 31,50 | PicClick FR The file name it has been given by the owner is "MONTAUBAN-IZAAC-ET-MARIETTE-15mm-SCELLÉ-À (2)" so there is little doubt that it also relates to Montauban."