On Wednesday in Paris, Sotheby’s took €8.7 million ($9.6 million) from what it called “one of the most significant offerings of Napoleonic material ever to come to market.”
The sale of 112 lots, which sailed past its €6 million estimate ($6.9 million), spanned imperial furniture, Old Master paintings, and “deeply personal relics that reflect the inner world of [Napoleon Bonaparte],” Sotheby’s said in a statement. They came from the private collection of prominent French antiques collector Pierre-Jean Chalençon, who is reportedly being forced to sell the Parisian mansion he transformed into a shrine to Napoleon to pay off a €10 million ($11.6 million) loan.
The sell-through rate was 92 percent, and almost 50 percent of the lots, such as Napoleon’s worn stockings and a copy of the French emperor’s marriage certificate to his first wife, Joséphine, sold over their high estimate. Sotheby’s said there was institutional bidding and buying on several lots, including from the Musée Napoléonien des Châteaux de Malmaison.
“Echoing Napoleon’s words—‘What a novel my life!’—this collection reads like a vivid historical epic, unfolding across battlefields and boudoirs, ceremonial halls, and intimate chambers, alternating a chronicle of power, politics, and pageantry, to the vulnerabilities, ambitions and contradictions of the man behind the myth,” the house said before the auction.
Among the top lots was a painting of Napoleon by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse, a French painter famous for his battle scenes, which sold for 20 times its estimate at €863,600 ($1 million) (all quoted prices include buyer’s fees). The only surviving remnant of Napoleon’s first will, written in 1819 on Saint Helena (where he was exiled in 1815), went for €482,600 ($558,730), while an Empire gilt wood Imperial throne armchair sold for €406,400 ($470,510).
“[Mauzaisse’s] commanding image of Napoleon, after Jacques-Louis David, clearly captured the imagination of collectors,” Louis-Xavier Joseph, head of furniture and decorative arts at Sotheby’s Paris, told ARTnews. “Pursued by four determined bidders, it soared to nearly 20 times its estimate and set a new auction record for the artist—a clear sign of the enduring allure of Napoleon and the power of imagery that defines his legend.”
The iconic general’s stockings were part of lot comprising a long shirt, a pair of his underwear, and a white silk tie (all worn). They were bought for €133,350 ($154,386). “This extraordinary ensemble of clothing worn by Napoleon offers a visceral connection to the man behind the legend,” Joseph said. “The intense competition, both in the room and on the phone, reflects not only its impeccable provenance—from his personal tailor’s workshop—but also the emotional resonance of owning something that he actually wore. The exceptional result underscores collectors’ appetite for objects that carry Napoleon’s personal narrative far beyond historical depiction.”
Wednesday was not the first time Sotheby’s has auctioned Napoleon’s possessions. Over two centuries ago in 1823, his library from Saint Helena was sold by the house in London. When Napoleon was exiled there, he took the 112 volumes (nice symmetry with the sale’s 112 lots), along with a pastry chef and his servants, to the volcanic rock halfway between Africa and South America.
“Some 200 years ago, Sotheby’s had the honour of auctioning Napoleon’s personal library—an extraordinary success which was echoed this evening when we unveiled one of the most significant collections of his belongings ever assembled, a powerful reminder of how Napoleon continues to captivate the world with his legacy and myth,” the house said in a statement. ”Pierre-Jean Chalençon’s remarkable collection drew global attention, far surpassing estimates and setting new benchmarks for this category.”
The top price ever paid for one of Napoleon’s belongings is €4.66 million ($5.4 million), when Drouout Auctioneers in Paris sold his personal sabre last month. Chalençon, whom the Times described as “France’s most famous antiques collector,” told the New York Post before Wednesday’s sale that he thought Tesla billionaire Elon Musk was the ideal prospective buyer for his collection. “[The lots] are like my babies,” he said. “And I wish Elon Musk, the new Napoleon, to buy everything, to keep my babies together.” It’s not known if Musk bid on any of the works.
In 2015, Chalençon, who has described himself as “Napoleon’s press officer,” purchased the Palais Vivienne for €6 million ($6.9 million) and decked it out with his collection of Napoleonic memorabilia, which is allegedly 900 pieces strong. It includes the statesman’s 5.33-carat ruby coronation ring.
In March, the Times wrote that he was struggling to pay off a €10 million loan that he took out from Swiss Life Banque Privée to finance his purchases. However, Chalençon told Le Parisien, “I am not riddled with debts. I am doing well.”
After Wednesday, he’s doing much better.
