A hat worn by Napoleon sold for $2.1 million at an auction of the French emperor’s belongings

PARIS – A pale and cracked felt bicorne hat worn by Napoléon Bonaparte sold for $2.1 million at an auction Sunday of the French emperor’s belongings.

Yes, $2.1 million.

The signature large, black hat — one of a handful nonetheless in lifestyles that Napoléon wore when he ruled 19th-century France and waged struggle in Europe — was once to begin with valued at 600,000 to 800,000 euros ($650,000-870,000). It was once the centerpiece of Sunday’s auction in Fontainebleau of memorabilia gathered by a French industrialist who died closing 12 months.

But the bidding briefly jumped upper and better till Jean Pierre Osenat, president of the Osenat auction space, designated the winner.

‘’We are at 1.5 million (euros) for Napoleon’s hat … for this main image of the Napoleonic epoch,” he mentioned, as applause rang out in the auction corridor. The purchaser, whose identification was once no longer launched, should pay 28.8% in commissions in line with Osenat, bringing the total price to one.9 million euros ($2.1 million).

While different officials typically wore their bicorne hats with the wings dealing with entrance to again, Napoleon wore his with the ends pointing towards his shoulders. The taste — referred to as “en bataille,” or in struggle — made it more straightforward for his troops to identify their chief in struggle.

The hat on sale was once first recovered by Col. Pierre Baillon, a quartermaster below Napoléon, in line with the auctioneers. The hat then handed via many fingers prior to industrialist Jean-Louis Noisiez obtained it.

The entrepreneur spent greater than a half-century assembling his assortment of Napoleonic memorabilia, firearms, swords and cash prior to his loss of life in 2022.

The sale got here days prior to the free up of Ridley Scott’s film ‘’Napoleon” with Joaquin Phoenix, which is rekindling passion in the debatable French ruler.