A France-based art gallery Imperial Arts is organising the first-ever auction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) related to physical personal property belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte.
The unique auction is being held to mark the bicentenary of Napoleon I’s death, as well as the 216th anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz and the 217th anniversary of the emperor’s coronation. Five historical objects will be sold online through an NFTs sale. The unique selection will be offered for sale via the OpenSea digital platform, according to information shared with Finbold.
This unique auction organised by Imperial Arts will include the following objects:
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- Napoleon’s Cane from St. Helena, a unique record of the emperor’s last home on St. Helena. Carved from whalebone by a Chinese craftsman on St Helena, the cane has a detachable pommel that allowed the emperor to point his armies on a map;
- A gold snuffbox that belonged to Napoleon I, in perfect condition and signed by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, the greatest miniature portraitist of the Empire period. Such objects are extremely rare, the only similar artefacts being in the Château de Versailles or the Musée de Fontainebleau;
- A handwritten letter from Napoleon I to General Count Bertrand, his Grand Maréchal du Palais, who faithfully followed Napoleon into exile;
- An Imperial bust of Napoleon I, an official representation of the Emperor from the Empire period, in cast iron attributed to Vivant Denon.
- A miniature portrait of Napoleon I, a painting on ivory in a bronze case, representing Napoleon in the uniform of a colonel of the Garde chasseurs à cheval, after the painting by Robert Lefèvre.
Tarik Bougherira, the founder of the Imperial Arts gallery, said:
“We are extremely proud to launch this ambitious and unique project in the art market, especially on such a special date as a three-year anniversary. Imperial Arts is now setting a milestone for what I believe will be our market in the
future. I also hope that through this operation we can bring the passion of art collecting to a new kind of audience”.
According to the company, NFC chips will be programmed by Arteïa firm and securely linked to the object or the paper certificate of authenticity provided by the gallery that will be recorded in a secure database on the blockchain.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader prominent for leading the French Revolution. He rose to popularity because of his institution of the Napoleonic Code, which offered freedom of religion, eliminated privileges based upon birth, and demanded that government jobs be given to those qualified. He was also instrumental in creating a new constitution for France.
The official announcement of the auction can be found here [PDF].
