I
n June 1815, when Napoleon was well on his way to meeting his Waterloo, he probably didn’t stop to imagine that 210 years later, items he had owned, used or even touched would be sought-after by collectors. However, in the two centuries since his ignominious death on Saint Helena, everything from his signature to his swords have become hot property, with one of his sabres selling for €4.6 million (£3.8 million) last month in Paris. Now a new auction — of one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of Napoleonic memorabilia assembled — will give collectors a chance to acquire some Napoleonic loot — including the marriage certificate between Napoleon and Joséphine, Napoleon’s famous bicorne hat, his camp bed and one of his thrones.
“[The collection] presents an extraordinary synthesis of Napoleonic history,” says Louis-Xavier Joseph, the head of department of European Furniture and Decorative Arts at Sotheby’s Paris, “uniting grand historic symbols with intimate relics that offer a poignant glimpse into the personal life and vision of one of history’s most iconic figures.”
The Chalençon Collection, to be offered at auction at Sotheby’s Paris on June 25, was assembled over the course of four decades by Pierre-Jean Chalençon, a French antiques dealer, former star of France’s equivalents of the Antiques Roadshow and The Bidding Room and self-proclaimed “Napoleon’s press officer”. Born in Rueil-Malmaison, the Parisian suburb that was briefly, between 1800 to 1802, the seat of Napoleon’s government, Chalençon’s interest in the France’s only emperor was sparked at the age of seven after reading a comic book about Napoleon and visiting the Château de Malmaison, the residence of Empress Joséphine. This ignited a passion for collecting artifacts related to the Napoleonic era, leading Chalençon over the years to amass a remarkable collection exceeding 1,000 items, including a coronation ring featuring a 5.33ct ruby, and even a piece of the emperor’s coffin. The collection encompasses imperial furniture, silver, porcelain, sculpture, old master paintings, books, drawings, clothing and jewellery.
