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Lot 146*
A rare Madras scarf or Foulard believed to have been worn by Napoleon whilst on St Helena
27 October 2021, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £22,750 inc. premium
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A rare Madras scarf or Foulard believed to have been worn by Napoleon whilst on St Helena
Decorated with fruit and foliage to the centre, framed by seven chevron bands adorned with flowers and stylised foliage, embroidered with an N in brown thread, 48cm by 45.5cm,
Footnotes
Provenance:
Collection of Valérie Masuyer (1797-1878), lady-in-waiting to Queen Hortense, Napoleon's step-daughter
The Napoleonic Collection of the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Osenat, Fontainebleau, 16 November 2014, lot 81
Exhibited:
Waterloo Memorial Museum, 'Napoléon: de Waterloo à Sainte-Hélène, la naissance de la légende', 5 May to 17 October 2021
Following the long-held practice of the Empress Josephine, Napoleon is known to have covered his head both day and night. Louis Constant Wairy, Napoleon's valet, remarks in his memoirs of the Empress that her "...hair was strong, beautiful, long and silky; its light chestnut hue blended admirably with that of her skin, dazzling with finesse and freshness. At the beginning of his supreme power, the empress still liked to do her hair in the morning with a red madras that gave her the look of Creole, the hottest to have" (Mémoires de Constant, premier valet de chambre de l'empereur, sur la vie privée de Napoléon, sa famille et sa cour, 1830). Doctor Barry O'Meara, Napoleon's doctor on St. Helena, noted during his visit on 5th March 1817: "On my return from Longwood, I found Napoleon in very different spirits from yesterday. He was reclining on his sofa, in a very positive attitude, his head resting upon one of his hands, and apparently melancholy. His morning gown was on, a Madras round his head and his beard unshaved" (Barry O'Meara, Napoleon in Exile or A Voice from St. Helena, 1822).
General Montholon, remarked on 13 April 1821 during the Emperor's illness "...the night was not so good, possibly because of the heavy sweating. Seven times I changed the Emperor, and each time flanelle and linen were soaked, until the madras of which he surrounds his head. These linen changes are very difficult to do without making him impatient, because he does not want to; no light in his room, there is only one candle in the next room, and that's the weakest glow of this light that I need, not to give it, but to give it everything it needs, even tie the madras on his head."