Share Certificate of the Société Anonyme des Établissements Jules Richard
Cat. No. CRT-2026-018
An exceptionally decorative bearer share certificate issued in 1922 by the Société Anonyme des Établissements Jules Richard, one of the most important French manufacturers of precision scientific and recording instruments.
What makes the document particularly relevant to the history of meteorological instrumentation is its unusually elaborate pictorial programme. Rather than functioning merely as a financial security, the certificate effectively serves as a miniature illustrated catalogue of the company's products. Around the ornate border are small representations of instruments identified as a taxiphote, anthroscope, thermomètre, cinémomètre, thermomètre enregistreur, baromètre enregistreur, and hygromètre enregistreur. The prominent illustration of a recording barometer is especially significant in the context of the Jules Richard firm's long association with self-recording meteorological instruments.
At the top centre, two putti are shown operating or presenting a stereoscopic photographic apparatus, reflecting another major branch of Jules Richard's business: stereoscopic photography. The design therefore combines the company's two best-known technological spheres — photographic equipment and precision recording instruments — within a single corporate image.
The reverse is almost entirely occupied by the printed statutes of the company, covering its purpose, share capital, administration, general meetings, dividends, reserves and procedures for dissolution. Consequently, the certificate preserves not only the visual identity of Établissements Jules Richard but also a substantial record of its corporate structure.
The numerous later stamps and overprints make this particular example especially interesting. They demonstrate that the share remained administratively relevant for decades after its original issue and record successive changes in the company's capital and share structure. Rather than representing a single moment in 1922, the document thus preserves several layers of the financial history of Établissements Jules Richard extending well into the post-war period.
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- The certificate bears share number 011,023 and was originally issued as an “Action de Cinq Cents Francs au Porteur” — a bearer share with a nominal value of 500 francs.
- The principal text records an original company capital of 6,000,000 francs, divided into 12,000 shares of 500 francs each, and gives the registered office as 25, rue Mélingue, Paris.
- The document is dated “Paris, le 1er Janvier 1922” and carries facsimile or manuscript signatures of company administrators.
- Numerous later overprints, stamps and annotations document subsequent modifications to the company's capital structure and the nominal value of its shares. Among the most prominent is the overprinted statement “Taux nominal réduit à 400 Fcs”. Other annotations refer to resolutions of extraordinary general meetings during the 1930s, 1950s and 1959.
- The coupon sheet is repeatedly cancelled with red circular stamps of the Établissements Jules Richard.
Large-format printed bearer share certificate consisting of the richly decorated principal certificate, a reverse sheet containing the company statutes, and an attached coupon sheet. Printed in several colours on security paper with elaborate guilloche ornamentation, engraved-style borders, company emblems and illustrations of scientific instruments. The coupon sheet retains coupons numbered 11–30.
The document was purchased from a private collector in France.
Creator
Société Anonyme des Établissements Jules Richard, Paris. Printed by Imprimerie Marx, 9 rue de Londres, Paris
Subject
Établissements Jules Richard; scientific and precision instruments; meteorological recording instruments; French instrument manufacture; corporate history
Date
1 January 1922, Later corporate annotations and fiscal/corporate stamps were added during the following decades, including changes recorded in the 1930s–1950s.
Place of Origin
Paris, France
Language
French