Under The Hammer II: Napoleontic Collection of US Billionaire

US billionaire Christopher Forbes, Vice President of Forbes publishing company, has been an avid collector of art and items related to Emperor Napoleon III, Empress Eugenie and the Second Empire. It all started when Forbes’ father gave him a portrait of Napoleon III when he was in his teens.

On 5 and 6 March 2016 Mr. Forbes will sell the collection which took him years to acquire. Forbes decided to sell his collection after he met Jean-Pierre Osenat, leading specialist in this field, who also oversaw the auction of Napoleontic items from the collection of the prince of Monaco. The auction will be held at Fontainebleu Castle near Paris. Over 500 paintings and more than 1300 letters and manusripts will change hands.

Among the items are three famous portraits of Franz Xaver Winterhalter, which are shown below:

Read more here.

Filed under France, Historical Royals
Tagged Auction, Eugénie de Montijo, House of Bonaparte, Napoleon III of the French.