Paris (AFP) – A hat that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte when he was French emperor sold for a record price of almost two million euros at a French auction on Sunday, the auction house said.
Issued on: November 19, 2023 – 4:33 p.m
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The price was 1.932 million euros ($2.1 million), breaking the previous record for a Napoleon hat held at the same auction house of 1.884 million euros in 2014.
The hat, known as a bicorne, features Napoleon’s trademark colors – black, with the colors of the French flag of blue-white-red as a badge – and attracted collectors “from all over the world,” auction house Osenat said, declining to identify it state the nationality of the future buyer.
It most recently belonged to businessman Jean-Louis Noisiez, who died last year.
The final price was more than double the estimated price of 600,000 to 800,000 euros and almost four times the reserve price, said the auction house based in Fontainebleau, south of Paris.
It is believed that Napoleon owned around 120 such hats in total, most of which are now lost.
“The hat itself represented the image of the emperor,” auction house expert Jean-Pierre Osenat told AFP before the sale.
According to the auction house, Napoleon wore this particular hat in the middle of his imperial reign, which lasted from 1808 to 1815.
Unlike most people of the time, Napoleon wore his hat sideways, giving him a distinct silhouette that was easily recognized by his troops in battle.
Napoleon rose to prominence during the French Revolution and became a key figure in the revolutionary wars.
He served the Republic as its first consul and was crowned emperor in 1804.
He was exiled in 1815 after losing the battle against British and Prussian forces at Waterloo.
He died in 1821 on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic.
Sunday’s hat sale comes just days before a biopic about Napoleon hits theaters worldwide.
Ridley Scott’s film depicts massive battles across Europe, but also depicts his complex relationship with his wife Josephine.
Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Napoleon in the film, said of the late emperor that he was “socially awkward” but also a “romantic.”
© 2023 AFP