St. James's Auctions
Auction 49 5 Oct 2021
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France, Napoleon, a small cast bronze desk ornament of Napoleon as 'le Petit Caporal', c. 1833, after the statue by Charles Marie Émile Seurre (1798-1858), 71mm., mounted on square white marble stand, most pleasing and well-patinated, in excellent condition
In 1833 the original 4-metre statue by Seurre, made from 16 Austrian and Russian cannon captured during the Ulm and Austerlitz campaigns of 1805, was placed atop La Colonne Vendôme replacing that destroyed by the Allies in 1814. It, in turn, was replaced in 1863 by Napoleon III and banished to a less glamorous home. During the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the intention was to send the statue for safe-keeping but it ended up at the bottom of the Seine. Although rescued soon afterwards, it was not until 1911 that it was restored and moved to the main courtyard of Les Invalides. It was restored again in 2014-25. Perhaps this, too, was made from captured cannon.
(80-120 GBP)
In 1833 the original 4-metre statue by Seurre, made from 16 Austrian and Russian cannon captured during the Ulm and Austerlitz campaigns of 1805, was placed atop La Colonne Vendôme replacing that destroyed by the Allies in 1814. It, in turn, was replaced in 1863 by Napoleon III and banished to a less glamorous home. During the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the intention was to send the statue for safe-keeping but it ended up at the bottom of the Seine. Although rescued soon afterwards, it was not until 1911 that it was restored and moved to the main courtyard of Les Invalides. It was restored again in 2014-25. Perhaps this, too, was made from captured cannon.
(80-120 GBP)