Two pistols that Napoleon Bonaparte, the former French emperor, had intended for use in suicide sold for 1.69 million euros ($1.8 million) at auction in Fontainebleau, exceeding their estimated values of 1.2-1.5 million euros. The purchaser remains unknown.
These guns are adorned with gold and silver inlaying and feature a carved image of Napoleon dressed in full imperial regalia. One of an auction house expert Jean-Pierre Osenat’s reveals that these weapons belonged to Napoleon who had almost used them to commit suicide after his army was defeated and Paris occupied by foreign powers in 1814. But his grand equerry, Armand de Caulaincourt, removed the powder from the barrels thereby averting Napoleon’s death wish. Thereafter, he gave the pistols as a present to his squire to whom he was grateful for loyalty.
These have been classified by the French government as national treasures, meaning they cannot be exported.
French culture ministry commission on national treasures has issued an export ban certificate which gives government an opportunity to make a purchase offer within 30 months following issuance and new owner to reject it if he wants. Precisely though any cultural property classified as national treasure can only be taken out of France temporarily and should be returned back home.
“Once declared a National Treasure it adds an incalculable value,” said a representative from Osenat auction house.
Collectors highly desire Napoleon memorabilia like one of his famous black cocked hat called “bicorne” that went under hammer at 1.9 million euros last month.
Upon abdication, Napoleon was exiled on the island of Elba off Italy’s coast before later dramatically getting back into return into France but definitely ending up with defeat at Waterloo on June18th 1815. Napoleon then lived out his remaining years in exile on the island St Helena where he died six years later.
