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Agence France-Presse

A sword that belonged to Napoleon and was specially ordered for the personal use of the French emperor is to be auctioned in Paris next month, the auction house said.
Napoleon ordered the sabre in 1802 and kept it throughout his reign.
The Giquello auction firm said on Friday it expected the sword to reach €700,000 to €1 million (US$800,000 to US$1.1 million) when it goes under the hammer in Paris on May 22.
Napoleon passed the sabre on to his close ally Emmanuel de Grouchy, who the French emperor named his last marshal of the empire.
The sword has been in Grouchy’s family since 1815, the year of Napoleon’s last defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

A second copy, identical to this one and also commissioned by Napoleon, is kept at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Napoleon memorabilia regularly comes up for sale at auction in France in a flourishing trade marked by intense interest from collectors.
Two pistols that he once intended to use to kill himself were sold in France last July for €1.7 million, while one of his trademark “bicorne” hats set a record price for his possessions when it was acquired for €1.9 million in November 2023.
A handwritten letter from Napoleon denying his role in the kidnapping of Pope Pius VII in 1809 is to go under the hammer this weekend outside Paris and is expected to reach €12,000 to €15,000.


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France

Napoleon’s sword to be sold at auction in Paris

This photograph taken in Paris on Friday shows details of the last sword that belonged to French Emperor Napoleon. Photo: AFP

The last sword that belonged to French Emperor Napoleon is seen at Hotel Drouot in Paris on Friday. Photo: AFP

Napoleon’s hat sells for record US$2.1 million at French auction

Staff at Osenat’s auction house in Fontainebleau, south of Paris, remove the protective case of one of the signature broad, black hats that Napoleon Bonaparte wore when he ruled 19th-century France and waged war in Europe. Photo: AP

One of the signature broad, black hats that Napoleon wore when he ruled 19th century France on display at Osenat’s auction house in Fontainebleau, south of Paris, France on Friday. Photo: AP

Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from Napoleon. Photo: Kevin Baker / Apple TV+ via AP

Paris auction offers chance to step into Napoleon’s shoes

Boots that might have been worn by French emperor Napoleon during his final exile in Saint Helena are handled before being put on auction at Drouot auction house in Paris on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Russian Napoleon enthusiast admits chopping up lover

Oleg Sokolov dressed as Napoleon during an historic re-enactment in 2014. Photo: AFP

Russian Emergency rescuers and police investigators conduct searches on the Moika River, in Saint Petersburg, on November 10, 2019, following the murder of a woman that implicates Russian historian Oleg Sokolov. - A prominent Saint Petersburg-based Napoleon expert has confessed to murdering his young lover and former student and dismembering her body in a grisly crime that sent shock waves across Russia. Oleg Sokolov, a 63-year-old history lecturer who received France's Legion d'Honneur in 2003, was arrested on November 10, 2019 on suspicion of murder after he was hauled out of Saint Petersburg's Moika River with a backpack containing a woman's arms. (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP)

Russian police block a bridge over the Moika River during searches operation conducted by Russian emergency rescuers and police investigators on the river, in Saint Petersburg, on November 10, 2019, following the murder of a woman that implicates Russian historian Oleg Sokolov. - A prominent Saint Petersburg-based Napoleon expert has confessed to murdering his young lover and former student and dismembering her body in a grisly crime that sent shock waves across Russia. Oleg Sokolov, a 63-year-old history lecturer who received France's Legion d'Honneur in 2003, was arrested on November 10, 2019 on suspicion of murder after he was hauled out of Saint Petersburg's Moika River with a backpack containing a woman's arms. (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP)

(FILES) This file photo taken on June 23, 2012 shows Paris Sorbonne University's professor Oleg Sokolov giving orders to his troops, on the banks of the river Neman in Kaunas, central Lithuania, as he plays Napoleon Bonaparte. - Police in Saint Petersburg on November 9, 2019, arrested a prominent Russian historian on suspicion of murdering a former student after he was hauled out of a river with a backpack containing a woman's arms, authorities said. Local media in Saint Petersburg reported that university professor Oleg Sokolov was drunk and fell into the river as he tried to dispose of body parts. Police reportedly then went to Sokolov's home where they discovered the decapitated body of Anastasia Yeshchenko, 24, with whom he had co-authored a number of works. (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP)

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The sabre, which the French emperor kept throughout his reign, is expected to fetch up to US$1.1 million when it goes under the hammer


The sabre, which the French emperor kept throughout his reign, is expected to fetch up to US$1.1 million when it goes under the hammer.


Auctions

History

Napoleon’s sword to be sold at auction in Paris

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The sabre, which the French emperor kept throughout his reign, is expected to fetch up to US$1.1 million when it goes under the hammer

The sabre, which the French emperor kept throughout his reign, is expected to fetch up to US$1.1 million when it goes under the hammer