Any 18th century history buffs about? Who was this person? Pics included

[PickledOwl1]

Was it even a person?

See images of a little bronze intaglio, has to be Georgian

It has the name B Brandy on it and the initials G.B in the centre. Although small, it's too large to have been worn round a neck or on a chain as some were

I've not heard of the name Brandy before and wondered why it was B Brandy round the outside , yet GB initials inside

Any insights at all please?

Could it be the seal for a bottle of spirits, and the initials/crest being that of the importer/dealer/retailer?

@Xag that's a good point. I'm not sure that there was a Mr B Brandy out there back then? Seems an unusual surname

Anyone else?!

It might not be the surname "Brandy" - there's a brand called Benedictine brandy, so it might refer to that, and be the seal that you see on brandy bottles. And GB might refer to Great Britain, or maybe the initials of a company involved in the brandy business.

I did an image search of a couple of your images and nothing particularly helpful came up.

What's the background/context to your question? That might help with the answer.

Watching avidly!

It's not for wearing round the neck by the way - it's for using on a wax seal - you imprint the design on the wax.

It looks like a basic brandy bottle seal. Do you know its exact dimensions?

Seal on top of a brandy bottle

Brandy as description of the contents

Swirly crest underneath based on initials

An example here of a stamp for sealing alcohol bottles with a wax stamp

There was indeed a family called Brandy in Cheshire in the C18th, but I'm leaning towards it being some sort of business stamp, as PP suggest.

Not only are the words suggestive, but I'd be surprised if a personal seal were of that style – as you mention, some way of carrying a personal seal on the person would be important.

Also, I've seen a lot of C18th wax-sealed letters (though many just in scanned image, not in the flesh). From what I can tell, the seal tends to be about 1 cm across.

So the size of your stamp may quickly rule this out.

In days of cellarage, bottles can easily lose their labels due to damp and mildew, a wax seal with arms of the wine estate or in this case 'brandy' will always tell you the contents.

We have the same problem on sailing boats today. Tins stowed in lockers lose their labels very quickly so it's always best to write the contents on the tin with a black permanent marker. Not the first time I've opened a can of tuna to find pineapple rings.

It s a customs seal, to show duty paid

I think you're all right - it's not a personal wax seal, it's a 'business' one from the 18th century

And Benedictine Brandy makes sense - if that was a thing back then! Also the GB would indicated Great Britain.

It's about the length of my index finger and a heavy bronze - got a decent weight to it when held