A hat of Napoleon I, the famous black bicorne with its blue, white and red cockade, sold on November 19, 2023 at 1.932 million euros (with fees) during auctions which far exceeded the auction house’s estimates , Osenat (AFP/Archives/Dimitar DILKOFF)
A hat of Napoleon I, the famous black bicorne with its blue, white and red cockade, sold for 1.932 million euros (including fees) on Sunday, a world record testifying to the unquenchable interest in this historical figure.
“This is a world record for a Napoleon I hat,” said the Osenat auction house in a press release.
This sale in France attracted “collectors from all over the world” and gave rise to “a great bidding battle in the room, on the telephone and on the internet”, underlined Osenat who broke his own record, after having sold in 2014 a Napoleon hat for 1.884 million euros.
Such a hat “is worth a lot because there are 20 authentic ones in the world and there are fifteen which are in museums, so there are four which are in private hands, including this one”, underlined , delighted, Jean-Pierre Osenat, auctioneer and president of the auction house.
The identity or nationality of the buyer has not been communicated.
The famous bicorne in taupe felt decorated with a cockade was presented to the public beforehand, attracting many curious and passionate people.
It was valued between 600,000 and 800,000 euros and was therefore sold for approximately 2.5 times more than expected, during the sale which took place in Fontainebleau, in the Paris region, a few days before the worldwide release of Ridley Scott’s film dedicated to Napoleon, with Joaquin Phoenix in the title role.
– Piece of history –
“This hat is the total symbolism of the emperor. Any collector who loves a Napoleonic souvenir wants to have a hat because Napoleon was recognized everywhere with his hat. (…) When you have Napoleon’s hat, you completely touch the history of France,” continued Mr. Osenat.
The hat was worn by Napoleon (1769-1821) “around the middle of the Empire”, according to a Belgian author who listed the emperor’s headgear in 2007, Yves Moerman, for the auction house.
In around fifteen years, Napoleon would have used around 120 of them, which allows us to see some of them for sale at auction from time to time.
The previous record was 1.884 million euros in 2014. Acquired by a South Korean businessman, it came from the collection of the princely family of Monaco. In 2018, a hat which, according to the house of De Baecque et Associés, had been worn during the Battle of Waterloo, went for 350,000 euros, in Lyon (south-east).
This time, the hat sold is part of the collection of Jean-Louis Noisiez, founder of the cleaning and other business services group GSF, who died in 2022.
The cocked hat was made by Pierre-Quentin-Joseph Baillon, the Emperor’s quartermaster from 1806. According to experts, Napoleon added his cockade to it while he was in the Mediterranean, returning from the island of Elba on March 1, 1815.
The hat remained in his family until the end of the 19th century, before being sold to various collectors. It was exhibited at the Empéri museum in Salon-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône, south) from 1967 to 2002.
© 2023 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.
