This June 25 in Paris, Sotheby’s will offer one of the most comprehensive Napoleonic private collections ever to come to market – some hundred standout items from the storied trove of leading collector and authority in the field Pierre-Jean Chalençon.
Assembled with passion, dedication and careful research, Chalençon’s collection ranks among the most significant Napoleonic collections in private hands and has been exhibited around the world, everywhere from Australia and China, to the United States and Europe.
Together, the works to be offered provide a sweeping, immersive portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte – charting his rise to Imperial power through to his final exile on Saint Helena. Spanning imperial furniture, silver, porcelain, sculpture, Old Master paintings, books, and drawings, the collection presents both major symbols of French national history and rare, deeply personal relics that reflect the inner world of the Emperor. Nearly every piece is distinguished by provenance, extensive literature, and a rich exhibition history.
Echoing Napoleon’s words – “what a novel my life!” – this collection reads like a vivid historical epic, unfolding across battlefields and boudoirs, ceremonial halls, and intimate chambers, alternating a chronicle of power, politics, and pageantry, to the vulnerabilities, ambitions and contradictions of the man behind the myth.
Main Image: Napoleon’s Iconic Bicorne Hat Estimate: €500,000-800,000