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Militaria and Political Auction
Lot 1294:
Napoleon Bonaparte
Relic
ca. 1815
Courelles, Belgium File
Wood Swatch from Napoleon’s Chair used During Battle of Waterloo. CAG Encapsulated.
Wood Swatch from Napoleon’s Chair used During Battle of Waterloo. CAG Encapsulated.
A swatch of wood taken from the chair in which Napoleon sat before the decisive battle at Waterloo, a mere 22 miles away from the battlefield measuring approximately 0.75" x 0.25", Courcelles, Belgium, circa 1815. Encapsulated by CAG, measuring 2.375" x
3.375" overall. Expected age & wear to wood, with minor splintering around edges.
Accompanied by an additional packet of provenance used to authenticate the relic.
The chair, which dates between the late 18th to early 19th century, was sold at a famous auction house out of London during the fall of 2009 and included two letters of provenance from the 1920s. One letter from Elise Nève and J. Wattier recounts the original owner "Pauline Cambier… bringing with her a chair that had been given to her by her father, on which Napoleon had rested while staying at his home in 1815…". A quote from a Telegraph.co.uk article, of which a copy is included within the packet of provenance provided, further describes Camber as the careful keeper of the chair, "aware of who (Napoleon) had perched upon it".
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on June 18, 1815, and notably marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars after the French army was defeated by the forces of England and Prussia, commanded by the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal von Blucher.
Following Napoleon’s return to France, he announced his abdication from the position of Emperor and later attempted to flee to North America. He was stopped, however, by the British Royal Navy and exiled to the island of Saint Helena where he stayed until his death in 1821.
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