Napoleon’s Secret Weapon: The Lavish 1802 Sword Expected to Shatter Auction Records at $1 Million
The Ornate Details Of Napoleon’s Prized Sword Commissioned In 1802
The sword, which is being auctioned by Giquello in Paris on May 22, was commissioned by Napoleon in 1802. Created by Nicolas-Noël Boutet, the master armorer at the state armory in Versailles, the sword is replete with ornate details.
GiquelloThe hilt of Napoleon’s sword includes ornate details like a golden dog’s head.
Its hilt includes a relief with the head of Medusa wearing the head of the Nemean lion, two quillons (the bar between the blade and the hilt) with ram’s heads, and a hilt with a golden dog holding a snake in its mouth.
Meanwhile, the center of the sword shows Napoleon on horseback, at the head of an army under a cloudy sky. In the background, a winged god holds a civic crown. Above this, a winged goddess holds a second civic crown alongside a depiction of a globe, military trophies, and floral decorations. The blade also bears the inscription “N BONAPARTE” and “PMIER CONSUL,” as well as additional decorative embellishments like Mars, the god of war, as well as Hercules holding a club.
GiquelloThe blade of Napoleon’s sword, inscribed with his name.
An extremely rare artifact — there is only one other version of the sword, a second copy, which is held by the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia — the auction house expects that Napoleon’s sword will sell for between $800,000 and $1.1 million.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s Rise To Power, And The Astonishing Relics Left Behind After His Reign
Public DomainNapoleon Bonaparte as First Consul, the title he took in 1802, the year this sword was commissioned.
Born in Corsica in 1769, Napoleon rose to power during the chaotic years of the French Revolution. In 1799, he seized control of France in a coup d’état. In 1802, the year Napoleon commissioned his sword, he made peace with Britain and Spain in the Treaty of Amiens, and consolidated his power through a referendum that made him “first consul for life.”
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