Set with engraved gemstones, the early 19th-century pieces are part of matching jewellery sets, or “parures”, and were offered as part of auction house Sotheby’s “Treasures” sale.
One tiara, in gold and enamel and set with 25 carnelian intaglios, sold for US$597,360. It was offered with a pair of earrings, hair comb and belt ornament.
“It’s a very rare example of early near-classicism jewellery, believed to have been worn and owned by empress Josephine Bonaparte,” Kristian Spofforth, head of the London jewellery department at Sotheby’s, told Reuters ahead of the sale.
“This symbolism was very important to Josephine and Napoleon in the period. The revolution had passed, and Josephine and Napoleon wanted to reinvent themselves in this classical style.”
The second gold-and-enamel tiara featured five head cameos of Zeus, Dionysus, Medusa, Pan and Gaia of ancient Greek mythology, and sold for US$167,000.
‘A very rare piece of history’
Meanwhile, in New York, the dress sword carried by Napoleon when he staged a coup in 1799 and five of his firearms sold for nearly US$2.9 million, United States auctioneers announced.
The lot, which was put up for sale by the Illinois-based Rock Island Auction Company, was sold on Dec 3 via phone to a buyer who has remained anonymous, company president Kevin Hogan told AFP.
The sword and five ornamented pistols had initially been valued at US$1.5 million to US$3.5 million.
With the sale, “the buyer of the Napoleon Garniture is taking home a very rare piece of history”, Hogan said.
“We are pleased to have provided the opportunity for them to acquire such a historic object.”
The sword, with its scabbard, was the “crown jewel” of the collection, according to the auctioneers.
The weapon was made by Nicolas-Noel Boutet, who was director of the state arms factory in Versailles. After being crowned emperor, Napoleon is believed to have presented the sword to general Jean-Andoche Junot, but the general’s wife was later forced to sell it to pay off debts.
It was then recovered by a London museum. A US collector was its last owner, but the man recently died, according to the auction house.