Historical Souvenirs Empire

As part of the sale dedicated to antique paintings and drawings, historical souvenirs, furniture and objets d'art, PIASA auction house is offering a selection of handwritten documents for sale on Thursday, June, 4, 2020. From the Italian Campaign led by General Bonaparte to the Hundred Days episode, which saw the glorious but ephemeral return of Napoleon, they illustrate the singularity of this period of an interval between two centuries particularly rich in historical events.

In the first weeks of 1794, Bonaparte wrote a letter to a general about the defence of Marseille. The military context was that of the Siege of Toulon. Indeed, between September and December 1793, royalist soldiers seized the city to hand it over to the British. The army of the First Republic fiercely opposed it. In this draft of a letter, with erasures and corrections appearing here and there, the one who is not yet the Emperor of the French asks a general to send him information on the artillery and on the battalions that make up the garrison with "a statement on the status of their provisions in cartridges and the state of their armament". This in-fol. document is offered for sale with an estimate of between 4,000 and 5,000 euros.

This other document is a letter with a calligraphic letterhead with a large ornate initial. The fifteen years separating the two letters saw the birth and then the flourishing of the Empire. Dated 19 November 1810 and countersigned by Champagny, Duke of Cadore, and Maret, Duke of Bassano, this autograph is a letter of credence from Baron Joseph Alexandre Jacques Durant de Mareuil (1769-1855) to Joachim Murat, Marshal of the Empire. The latter, King of Naples from 1808, married the Emperor's sister, Caroline Bonaparte. His low estimate is established at 1,500 euros.

The sale of Thursday, June, 4, 2020 also presents a letter written by the man who accompanied the end of the Empire as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. This framed in-8 coin is accompanied by a three-quarter engraving depicting the statesman. The whole is estimated at between 300 and 400 euros.

After Napoleon's return to French territory, the military administration had to reorganise. The Marshal of the Empire Louis-Nicolas Davout signed the appointment of Mr. Viella as surgeon major in the 1st Regiment of Voltigeurs de la Garde. The man who became Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmühl at the end of Napoleonic campaigns is depicted on horseback holding a sword with a colour engraving. This lot is estimated between 150 and 200 euros.