|
Auctioneers said they believed Napoleon may
have owned the leather riding boots during his final exile in
Saint Helena, an island in the Atlantic Ocean, after his defeat
at Waterloo.
"It's difficult to separate these boots from the image we have
of Napoleon," said Alexandre Giquello, the auctioneer who will
conduct the sale.
"It's part of an icon, a universal one today, it's extraordinary
to sell this type of item. We know very well that image of
Napoleon throughout the world: the hat, the boots, and maybe the
frock coat."
They come in at a European size 40 (U.S. size 7, British Size
6.5) and match descriptions of Napoleon's boot orders placed
with shoemaker Jacques in Paris' rue Montmartre, the auctioneer
said. They were owned by Napoleon's final companion, Grand
Marshal Bertrand, after the emperor's death in 1821, it added.
The boots were given to sculptor Carlo Marochetti to be used as
a model for a sculpture of Napoleon riding a horse meant for his
tomb.
Marochetti's son gave the boots to the early 20th century French
senator Paul le Roux, whose family has owned the boots ever
since, according to the auction description.
($1 = 0.9073 euros)
(Reporting by Kathryn Carlson; Writing by Benoit Van
Overstraeten and Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
