Brest - First Empire - Saber

SABERS OF FRANÇOIS MARIE JOSEPH RIOU DE KERSALAÜN, MAJOR OF THE NATIONAL GUARD OF BREST

Chiseled and gilded bronze hilt, modeled after the sabers presented by the First Consul at Marengo, with guard sides adorned with a front-facing head of Minerva; a round branch entirely chiseled with foliage, a wolf’s-head-shaped crossguard, a crooked pommel topped by a lion’s head, and a checkered ebony tang. Damascus blade, gilded one-third of the way up, etched with trophies and monogrammed R K (RIOU DE KERSALAÜN), rounded spine signed: Manufacture de Klingenthal Coulaux Frères., ending in a carp’s tongue. Blued steel scabbard with three gilded bronze fittings and palmette-shaped appliqués; openwork scabbard mouth; bronze pommel with a double-volute design. Length 113 cm.

Formerly in the collection of Georges SCHWEITZER (Strasbourg); illustrated in the catalog of the military exhibition of the SOCIÉTÉ DES AMIS DES ARTS, held in STRASBOURG in 1904, plate IX, no. 2, and titled “Sabre d’Honneur”; it is listed as no. 693 in the small general catalog.

François, Marie, Joseph RIOU DE KERSALAÜN

Born on May 2, 1765, in MORLAIX (FINISTÈRE - FRANCE)

Died on July 25, 1811, in PARIS (PARIS - FRANCE)

Member of the Council of Five Hundred, born in Morlaix (Finistère) on May 2, 1765, died in Paris on July 25, 1811; son of a merchant ship captain, he was educated in Saint-Pol-de-Léon. He practiced law in Limoges, then in Lorient, and was admitted to the bar in his hometown. As the city’s registrar, he was attending a meeting of the new municipal council of Saint-Pol-de-Léon when it decided to grant itself full powers and declare martial law. He served as first lieutenant of the First Grenadier Regiment of the National Militia, then as major of the National Guard, and became a municipal officer in Brest and acting mayor. Elected on the 25th of Vendémiaire in Year IV as the deputy for Finistère to the Council of Five Hundred, with 100 votes out of 270 cast, he saw his election threatened with annulment because he was a relative of émigrés. He was a co-signatory in Versailles of a declaration by the Breton deputies to the Estates-General. Admitted after a debate, he served on the Finance Committee, acted as rapporteur for the mortgage laws, delivered several speeches on the financial situation, the assignats, and the status of unsold national property, and became president of the assembly on January 20, 1797; called on the Directory to crack down on royalist conspirators, attacked General Magallon and Vice Admiral de Sercey as hostile to republican institutions, defended the tobacco tax, and presented a bill to encourage privateering. Reelected to the same Council by the same department on 23 Germinal, Year VII, he joined the 18 Brumaire faction and became prefect of Cantal on 11 Ventôse, Year VIII (from 1800 to 1810), he firmly suppressed attempts at revolt against the republican government, in particular by capturing and killing Benjamin de Pélamourgues, a gentleman who was demanding the return of his property. Made a member of the Legion of Honor on the 25th of Prairial, Year XII, and created a Baron of the Empire on February 14, 1810, he was called to other duties on August 10, 1810, was not reinstated, and died less than a year later. His works include: *Lucretia*, a tragedy (1793); *Les Chouans*, a play (1795); *The Birth of the King of Rome*, odes (1811).

He authored several reports, including: *Report by Riou on the Petitions of the Jews of Metz and Avignon*, on behalf of a special commission, Paris 1797, and an essay, “Opinion on the True Meaning of the Law of 12 Brumaire Governing the Civil Status of Children Born Out of Wedlock,” printed in Aurillac.

“Riou de Kersalaün” was a surname formerly used by the Riou de Kerprigent family.

His widow lived at the Château de La Rodde in Lacapelle-del-Fraisse.

Bibliography

• A Minor Dispute Between Two Great Men: M. J. B. de Chénier and F. M. J. Riou de Kersalaun.

• Memoir Concerning the Embezzlement Committed by the Former Prefect of Cantal Regarding Military Recruitment Carried Out by M. Guitard, Knight of the Imperial Order, During the Administration of the Former Prefect of That Department (Baron de La Chadenède?); presented at the hearing of the criminal court sitting in Aurillac on May 18, 1812. Aurillac: printed by J.L. Viallanes, 1812. In-4, 17-page folios.

Biography excerpted from the Dictionary of French Parliamentarians from 1789 to 1889 (A. Robert and G. Cougny).

Provenance, photos, and appraisal: Bertrand Malvaux