A hat worn by Napoleon offered for $2.1 million at an auction of the French emperor’s possessions
A pale, cracked felt hat worn by Napoléon Bonaparte sold for $2.1 million at an auction Sunday of the French emperor’s belongings
ByThe Affiliated Push
November 19, 2023, 2:03 PM
A customer watches just one of the signature wide, black hats that Napoléon wore when he ruled 19th century France and waged war in Europe on show at Osenat’s auction dwelling in Fontainebleau, south of Paris, Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. The hat is tipped to fetch a lot more than 50 percent a million euros (bucks) at the auction Sunday of Napoleonic memorabilia patiently gathered by a French industrialist. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
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PARIS — A pale and cracked felt bicorne hat worn by Napoléon Bonaparte marketed for $2.1 million at an auction Sunday of the French emperor’s belongings.
Yes, $2.1 million.
The signature wide, black hat — one of a handful however in existence that Napoléon wore when he dominated 19th-century France and waged war in Europe — was to begin with valued at 600,000 to 800,000 euros ($650,000-870,000). It was the centerpiece of Sunday’s auction in Fontainebleau of memorabilia collected by a French industrialist who died final year.
But the bidding immediately jumped increased and larger right up until Jean Pierre Osenat, president of the Osenat auction household, specified the winner.
‘’We are at 1.5 million (euros) for Napoleon’s hat … for this key image of the Napoleonic epoch,” he said, as applause rang out in the auction corridor. The customer, whose id was not released, ought to pay back 28.8% in commissions according to Osenat, bringing the in general price tag to 1.9 million euros ($2.1 million).
When other officers typically wore their bicorne hats with the wings experiencing entrance to back again, Napoleon wore his with the ends pointing toward his shoulders. The style — acknowledged as “en bataille,” or in battle — designed it much easier for his troops to location their leader in overcome.
The hat on sale was first recovered by Col. Pierre Baillon, a quartermaster beneath Napoléon, in accordance to the auctioneers. The hat then passed via several hands just before industrialist Jean-Louis Noisiez acquired it.
The entrepreneur expended much more than a 50 percent-century assembling his assortment of Napoleonic memorabilia, firearms, swords and cash ahead of his death in 2022.
The sale arrived days in advance of the release of Ridley Scott’s film ‘’Napoleon” with Joaquin Phoenix, which is rekindling curiosity in the controversial French ruler.
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