Description:

A LOCK OF NAPOLEON'S HAIR FROM HIS DEATHBED
An extraordinary historic personal Napoleon Bonaparte relic, a lock of three or four strands of his hair taken from his head as the Emperor lay on his deathbed on Saint Helena. This relic is affixed to a period handwritten letter of provenance with an original wax real, the letter reading (in French): 'This hair comes from a lock collected from the head of Emperor Napoleon in Saint Helena on May 5, 1821, by Mademoiselle de Montholon. She gave it to Count Jules de Champagny, who gave it, on August 19, 1852, to Madame Bergier de Beauregard, nee Adelaide du Colombier, my grandmother. I am giving them today as a precious souvenir, as a testimony of my deep sympathy, to Mr. Pierre Claudin, and I affirm with my signature and my stamp their absolute authenticity. Dijon, September 6, 1897. Gérard de Beauregard.' On the verso appears another handwritten letter, dated January 16, 1933: '...If I gave you this relic of Napoleon I, I knew that it would find in you the same respect with which I surrounded it…' This extremely rare lock of hair was taken on the day of Napoleon's death, May 5, 1821, in Saint Helena. It was the property of Napoleone de Montholon-Semonville (1816-1907), Napoleon's goddaughter. She had left Saint Helena with her mother Albine de Montholon in July 1819, a little less than two years before Napoleon's death. This lock probably comes from her father the Count of Montholon, companion of the Emperor on Saint Helena. It was Montholon who closed the eyes of the Emperor and who was his executor. This lock of hair is one of the very rare ones cut just after the Napoleon's last breath and which were distributed in a tiny quantity. Count Jules de Champagny is one of the Dukes of Cadore, son of Jean-Baptiste de Nompere de Champagny (1756-1834). Mr. Pierre-Roger Claudin (1877-1936) was an illustrator and painter, member of the Nancy School. The letter with the lock is set in a rectangular wooden frame with exotic wood inlay decorated with honey bees, symbolic of the Emperor. Dimensions 31 x 27.5 cm. From the personal collection of Bruno Ledoux, collector and owner of the foremost collection of Napoleonic relics in the world.

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January 19, 2024 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $999,999 $10,000
$1,000,000 $1,999,999 $50,000
$2,000,000 + $100,000