AN EARLY 19TH CENTURY NAPOLEONIC INTEREST SMOKY QUARTZ AND AMETRINE SWIVEL DESK SEAL, CIRCA 1815
£1,764
Auction: 17 October 2023 from 10:00 BST
Description
The tapered facetted smoky quartz stem to a gold beaded sphere terminal, with fleur-de-lys border, the engraved foliate mount with a three-sided ametrine swivel seal, engraved to one side, 'N 1815'; 'ML' for Marie Louise to another and an engraved depiction of Napoleon as King and Emperor to the third
Dimensions
Length: 9cm, matrix: 1.7cm
Footnote
Note:
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)
Famous during the French Revolution for leading successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars, he was the leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then of the French Empire as Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and briefly again in 1815.
The inscription on this seal portrays Napoleon as the King and Emperor. The date of 1815 is particularly pertinent as it relates to the Hundred Days when Napoleon was re-instated as Emperor after his exile on the island of Elba, between the 20th March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8th July 1815. It was therefore the pre-cursor to the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.
His second wife Marie-Louise appears to feature on the third side of the seal. Born in Vienna in 1791, she married Napoleon in 1810, producing a son a year later in 1811. Following the final exile of Napoleon to St. Helena, Napoleon and Marie Louise ceased contact. Marie Louise was able to retain her imperial rank and style and was made ruler of the duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, with her son as heir.