A Napoleon I bicorne hat and around twenty objects from the same collection were presented to the public in Paris on Monday before being auctioned at the Osenat auction house on November 19th.
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“The hat alone represents the image of the emperor,” auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat told AFP. The value is between 600,000 and 800,000 euros, the price will start at 500,000 euros, assures the president of the auction house.
AFP
This hat was worn by Napoleon (1769-1821) “around the middle of the Empire,” according to a Belgian author, Yves Moerman, who listed the emperor’s headgear in 2007, Osenat reported in a press release.
In about fifteen years, Napoleon would have used about 120 of them, which is why we may see some at auction from time to time.
The record is 1.884 million euros for a hat also sold by Osenat in Fontainebleau in 2014 and purchased by a South Korean businessman.
AFP
Other items from the same collection, such as a Legion of Honor or a pair of silver spurs, also belonged to the emperor.
Described as a “collection of dreams” by the expert Jean-Claude Dey, in charge of evaluating the pieces presented, it is the second sale of goods by the collector Jean-Louis Noisiez, founder of the cleaning group and other GSF Company that acquired services died in 2022.