A bicorn hat believed to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte was sold on Sunday for the record figure of 1,932,000 euros (US$2.11 million) at the house of auctions Drouot of Paris.
Initially it had been estimated between 600,000 and 800,000 euros. The price surpassed the 1,884,000 euros paid for another Napoleon hat at Drouot in 2014, an auction house official said.
“One million four hundred and fifty thousand (euros) to my left, 1.5 million, we have 1.5 million in the room, 1.5 million for Napoleon’s hat. We left it at 1.5 million for this major symbol of Napoleon, I sell it for 1.5 million (before taxes), I have no regrets, sold”said auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat as he lowered the hammer to applause.
Before the auction, Osenat explained to Reuters that the black beaver felt hat with the traditional two-cornered shape was a trademark of Napoleon, who had owned about 120 such hats throughout his life.
“The hat was part of his image, since Napoleon was a communicative man”explained Osenat, who added that Napoleon always wore his hat with the corners aligned with his shoulders, while most people of the time wore it with the corners forward.
Hats believed to have belonged to Napoleon regularly appear at auctions. In October 2021, Bonhams auctioned in London a newly discovered hat with DNA evidence proving it had belonged to Napoleon.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
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