Brooch lost by Napoleon at Waterloo sells for 3.7m euros
A diamond-encrusted brooch that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte and was captured by the Prussian army at Waterloo has been sold for 3.79 million euros by auction house Sotheby’s.
The brooch was among the personal belongings that the emperor had to leave behind during his flight from Waterloo, south of Brussels, from British and Prussian soldiers after the battle that sealed his downfall.
The jewellery, with a diameter of approximately 45mm, has a large oval diamond of 13.04 carats in the centre, surrounded by almost 100 smaller diamonds in various shapes and sizes, arranged in two concentric rows.
It was made for Napoleon around 1810, “probably to adorn his bicorne hat on special occasions”, according to the auction house. It was then presented, along with other items, as a trophy to Prussian King Frederick William III on 21 June 1815, three days after the Battle of Waterloo.
The brooch was sold in Geneva on Wednesday, with the sale price far exceeding the estimate of between 130,000 and 220,000 euros.
The brooch once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte and seized by the Prussian army as the defeated French Emperor fled the battle of Waterloo © PHOTO PIERRE ALBOUY / AFP
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