Napoleon’s sword and pistols sold for $ 2.8 million in the United States

Published on : 12/08/2021 – 8:13 AM

He died two centuries ago and his possessions total more than $ 2.8 million: the sword that Napoleon Bonaparte wore during his coup in 1799 and five of his firearms come from be auctioned in the United States, announced Tuesday, December 7 a specialized company.

This lot, consisting of a sword and five ornate pistols, was sold on December 3 by the Rock Island Auction Company in Illinois to an anonymous telephone buyer, the president of the company told AFP. auction Kevin Hogan.

The lot had been estimated between 1.5 and 3.5 million dollars. At precisely $ 2.87 million, “the buyer of Napoleon’s equipment is bringing home a very rare historic piece,” said Kevin Hogan.

A sword forged in Versailles

The sword, accompanied by its scabbard, the centerpiece of the collection, leaves the Versailles workshops of the gunsmith Nicolas-Noël Boutet and was “carried by Napoleon Bonaparte during the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire 1799” (November 9 1799), according to Rock Island Auction Company, which claims to be “the world’s number one auctioneer of collectible firearms, bladed weapons and military equipment.”

Crowned Emperor on December 2, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte offered his sword to General Jean-Andoche Junot. When he died, the weapon had found its way to a museum in London and then to an American collector.

The auction house recalled that in 2007, “the saber carried by (the first consul Bonaparte) at the battle of Marengo (against Austrian troops in June 1800 in Piedmont in Italy) had been auctioned for 6, $ 5 million “.

France celebrated in the spring the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte on May 5, 1821, President Emmanuel Macron painting a portrait “in chiaroscuro” of this central figure in the history of France and Europe.

With AFP