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LOT 11:
Joséphine de Beauharnais - Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife - an ancient decoration
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Start price:
$
300
Buyer's Premium: 22%
VAT: 17%
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Joséphine de Beauharnais - Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife - an ancient decoration
An ancient and rare decoration with the figure of Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763 - 1814), the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress of France from 1804.
Josephine, the daughter of a sugar grower of aristocratic descent, married Napoleon, who was Six years younger than her, in 1796 while he was a senior officer. In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France, and Josephine Empress. Napoleon divorced her in 1809.
Provenance - founded in the river Berzina - (which is in Belarus), which flows into the Dnieper. In November 1812 Napoleon suffered heavy casualties (about 36,000 men) at the Battle of Brezina as he crossed the river during his retreat from Russia. Due to the severe results of the battle (from France's point of view), the word 'bérézina' (French) has taken root in French as a synonym for catastrophe or disaster.
5x4.5 cm. Thin metal. Signs of obsolescence.
