Fireback Dated 1780 With Affry's Arms (81x71 Cm)

Fireback dated 1780 with the arms of Affry found in Rogna (Jura), coming with almost certainty from the Swiss region of Friborg where the family owned many goods, such as the small castle of Affry in Givisiez, the manor of Presles near Murten and the castle of Saint Barthélémy in the canton of Vaud. In 1780, Jean Pierre Nicolas vicomte d'Affry, married Adélaïde Gigot de Garville in Paris, but it seems that this coat of arms is attributed to his father, Louis Auguste-Augustin d'Affry, count of Affry, lord of Saint- Barthélémy and de Brétigny, born in Versailles in 1713 and died in 1793 on his return from France, at the Château de St Barthélémy at the age of 79, son of lieutenant general François d'Affry, colonel of the Swiss guards of kings Louis XIV and Louis XV and of Marie de Diesbach Steinbruck, daughter of Count de Diesbach Steinbruck, colonel of a Swiss regiment in the service of France. He married Marie Elisabeth Françoise, baroness of Alt de Prévondavaux. He covered himself with glory on the battlefields and was appointed colonel general of all the Swiss regiments in the service of France in 1767, alternating with the Comte d'Artois, brother of the king, during the latter's minority, then from 1789 in 1792. He was also Louis XV's ambassador in Holland between 1758 and 1762 and certainly the best ambassador of Swiss interests in France without having the title. A token bearing the arms of Louis Auguste d'Affry is kept at the Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris, with its motto INVIA VIRTUTI NULLA EST VIA: No path is impracticable for virtue. (see our last photo) Coat of arms: silver with three sand chevrons, helm topped with a top hat with shield pieces and lambrequins. Two columns complete its decor. Its weight is 62 kg. Bibliography: PALASI P., heraldic firebacks, Gourcuff Gradenigo, Paris, page 264 N ° 565. You can visit our site: www.claudeaugustin.com