Napoleon’s Hat Sells for Record-Breaking Price at French Auction

A hat belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte when he was French emperor has sold for a record of nearly two million euros at a French auction.

The black beaver felt hat went for 1.932 million euros ($2.1 million) on Sunday at the Drouot auction house, breaking the previous record for a Napoleonic hat held by the same auction house: 1.884 million euros in 2014.

The hat, known as a bicorne, is in Napoleon’s trademark colours – black, with the French flag’s colours blue-white-red as insignia – and attracted collectors “from the world over”, auctioneer Jeane-Pierre Osenat said, declining to give the identity or nationality of the eventual buyer.

The hat was last owned by businessman Jean-Louis Noisiez, who died last year.

The final price was more than double the estimate of 600,000 to 800,000 euros ($655,00 to $873,000), and nearly four times the reserve price, said the auction house based in Fontainebleau, south of Paris.

Napoleon is believed to have owned around 120 such hats in total, most of which are now lost.

“One million four hundred 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’re leaving it at 1.5 million for this major Napoleon symbol, I’m selling for 1.5 million [before fees], no regrets, sold,” Osenat said as he brought down the hammer to applause.

Author’s opinion: Are these auction records hyped to create buzz and increase interest in the upcoming Napoleon biopic?

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/19/napoleon-hat-fetches-record-2-1m-at-paris-auction