The bicorn hat, auctioned at Shoteby's, was used by the emperor when the Treaty of Tilsit was signed in 1807, in which many European kings paid homage to him.
One of Emperor Napoleon's emblematic bicorn hats, which according to Sotheby's accompanied him on his triumphant campaign of 1807, has been awarded in Paris for 1.22 million euros ($1.4 million), the auction house announced this Wednesday British.
According to the statement, Napoleon wore that double-cornered hat when the Treaty of Tilsit was signed in 1807, "which divided Europe into several zones of French and Russian influence," and he also wore it in battle. With its points parallel to his back, that hat made him "immediately recognizable, to the point of later becoming inseparable from his image," the note added.
The bicorn was estimated at between 500,000 and 700,000 euros (between about 586,000 and 821,000 dollars). The result achieved, according to the director of Sotheby's Goldsmith's Department, Thierry de Lachaise, "confirms that the public's fascination with the brilliant destiny of Napoleon Bonaparte does not falter."
Other bicorns are in the hands of private collectors and preserved in collections of different international museums. This was purchased in 1814 by the Scottish politician Michael Shaw Stewart and then passed down from generation to generation.
The Treaty of Tilsit marked a new war triumph for the Napoleonic armies and the dissolution of the Fourth Coalition, the international alliance that opposed France. It was the result of the decisive Gallic victory at the Battle of Friedland, according to Andrew Roberts, biographer of the Corsican, Napoleon's most impressive after Austerlitz and Ulm.
Tilsit, in the words of the British historian, was "one of the most important summits in history." Especially the meeting on Thursday, June 25, in which the French emperor dazzled Tsar Alexander I, with whom he would maintain a great relationship until the Russian invasion campaign.
The terms of this treaty were lenient towards Russia - Russia's only territorial loss was that of the Ionian Islands - and very severe towards Prussia, which suffered the greatest punishments. However, Napoleon would regret years later that one specific decision he did not make then: "Where I made the most fatal mistake was at Tilsit. I should have dethroned the king of Prussia [Frederick William]."
But that issue did not diminish the dimension of a great victory. "Yes, I was happy when I became first consul, happy when I got married and happy when the King of Rome was born," he said, referring to his son. "But then I did not feel totally confident in the security of my position. I may have been happier in Tilsit. I had just overcome many vicissitudes, many anguish, like Eylau; and I saw myself victorious, dictating laws and with emperors and kings paying homage to me."
