“I have lived too long… Poor France… I don’t want to see her dishonored… A little more energy, a few more months of suffering, and she would have triumphed over all her enemies…. When I think of her situation, of the humiliation imposed upon her by foreigners, life is intolerable.” These words spoken by Napoleon to his Grand Squire display the distress the Emperor of France was in, as Russia, Prussia, and Austria laid siege to Paris.
With his empire in ruins, Napoleon was driven into depression and attempted to commit suicide by pistol. The set of pistols that were to be used in that attempt was just sold by French auction house Osenat on 7 July for €1.69 million (around US$1.83 million). The auction took place across the street from the Château de Fontainebleau where the treaty that ended Napoleon's reign was signed over two centuries ago.
On 3 July, the French Ministry of Culture declared the pistols to be national treasures. This means the new owner can only temporarily take the pistols out of the country, and the French government may make an offer to purchase them within thirty months.
Lot 215⏐Louis-Marin Gosset⏐Two flintlock pistols gifted to Napoleon Bonaparte, with case and special engravings
Case dimensions: 18 x 32 x 8 cm
Long-barreled pistol information:
- Pistol length: 38.5 cm
- Barrel length: 23.5 cm
- Calibre: 13 mm
Short-barrelled pistol information:
- Pistol length: 38.5 cm
- Barrel length: 23.5 cm
- Calibre: 12.5 mm
Provenance:
- Emperor Napoleon I
- Given on the night of April 12-13, 1814, to General Armand de Caulaincourt
- Passed down through descent with the Caulaincourt family
Estimate:€1,200,000 - 1,500,000
Sold number: €1,690,000(around US$1.83 million)
Auction House: Osenant Fontainebleau
Sale: The Empire at Fontainebleau (day 2)
Date: 7 July 2024
Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica in 1769. That very same year, the independent Corsican Republic was conquered by the then-Kingdom of France. This allowed Napoleon to join the French military and participate in the French Revolution (1789–1799) and French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802), where he earned fame and power. This culminated in his infamous coronation, where he crowned himself Emperor of France.
Napoleon as emperor would win striking battles against his enemies conquering much of Europe. However, his eventual failed invasion of Russia (1812) and loss in Spain (1808-1814) led to his Empire crumbling and being pushed back into France, whilst the great powers laid siege to the country and Paris.
It was here that the Great Powers of Prussia, Russia, and Austria pressured the French Senate to dethrone Napoleon. Napoleon was in no position to negotiate, although he attempted to the Great Powers of Europe were adamant that he and his lineage be prohibited from holding power in France and that Napoleon be exiled.
Horace Vernet⏐La barrière de Clichy. Défense de Paris, le 30 mars 1814 (1820), 98 x 131 cm⏐ Louver, Paris
Paul Delaroche|Napoleon I at Fontainbleau on March 31 (1840), 1814, 180.5 x 137.5 cm|Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig
With the battle of Paris finished on 31 March 1814, three Great Powers forced France to sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau on 11 April 1814 which forced Napoleon to give up the throne of France, banned his lineage from ever ruling France, and sent him into exile on the island of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany. The diplomats of France, Prussia, Austria, and Russia would sign the treaty on this day.
Feeling melancholic about the state of his empire and the loss of his power Napoleon attempted suicide between the night of the 12th and the early morning of the 13th. The sold pistols were what Napoleon originally attempted to kill himself with, but Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt (1773-1827), Napoelon’s Grand Squire removed the gunpowder from the flintlock weapons. This led Napoleon to attempt suicide by arsenic, which he survived.
Following his failed suicide attempts, he gave the pistols to Caulaincourt. He would then officially ratify the Treaty of Fontainebleau on 13 April, later in the day, accepting his dethronement and exile to Elba. He would arrive in Elba on 4 May 1814.
In 1815, Napoleon infamously returned from exile to lead France and fight the European powers once more before being defeated at the Battle of Waterloo (1815). Napoleon was exiled by the British to the remote Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he would die in 1821.
The two pistols in their case accompanied by various accessories and maintenance tools
An engraved silver plate which states that Napoleon personally gave these pistols to Caulaincourt at Fontainebleau in 1814, included with the lot
The two pistols were gifted to Caulaincourt at the twilight of Napoleon's reign as a sign of thanks to his Grand Squire. Cauliancourt had loyally served as a general under Napoleon before becoming the Emperor's foreign minister and advisor. The Caulaincourt family religiously maintained the pistols and would also be gifted other possessions, such as Napoleon's personal sabers.
Caulaincourt was one of the few senior officials still by Napoloen's side, as many of his generals had begged him to surrender to save France from further destruction. Napoleon would have been given these pistols to Cauliancourt hours before the Emperor ratified the Treaty of Fontainebleau and was sent to a rather comfortable exile on Elba, where he was the island's ruler.
The Villa di San Martino where Napoleon had his summer residence while exiled on the island of Elba. Still visible are the twin French Imperial eagles on the top of the Romanesque entrance
The pistols themselves were made by Louis-Marin Gosset, a Parisian gunmaker at the time. Previously, he worked as an assistant to the director of the French State Armoury at Versailles before opening up his own weapons shop.
These pistols have copious amounts of detail crafted into the work whose symbolism is identifiable to the Emperor. On the smaller-calibered pistols, on the underside of the front of the barrel, there is a gold medallion engraved with the silhouette of Emperor Napoleon I wearing a laurel crown and the French Imperial Eagle, the standard used for the French Army.
Additionally, on the grips of both pistols blue-enameled gold thumb pieces with a stylized “N” for Napoleon and a star.
Etched in a similar fashion to the "N" are animals, including an elephant. The elephant was a major symbol in Paris as in 1813 Napoleon built a giant steel elephant where the Bastille prison once stood in Paris. The steel used to make it was obtained from captured and melted-down weapons from the Battle of Friedland (1807), where Napoleon defeated Russia.
The smaller caliber pistol with the gold medallion with a carving of Napoleon wearing a laurel and imperial eagle
The thumb piece, found on both pistols, with blue enamel and gold highlights including the stylized letter "N"
The carved image of an elephant on the bottom of the pistol grip along with the hippogriff carved into wood opposite it
This pistol is also chock-full of symbols from antiquity, as referencing Rome was a common theme in Napoleon's empire, including his laurel crown and use of the eagle, the latter also a symbol of the Prussian and Austrian Empires.
Found on the underside of both pistols are metallic carvings of fauns. A humanoid goat-like creature from Roman mythology that represented natural force.
The most notable of Roman symbols is the use of three Roman gods on the top of the pistol barrel. These are Mercury on the left, the god of commerce and communications; Jupiter in the center, the god of the heavens and weather; and Mars on the right, the god of war. In combination, they evoke a certain message regarding Napoleon himself and the goals and prowess of his empire.
The metallic engraved faun featured on the underside of both pistols
The gods (left to right) Mercury, Jupiter, and Mars