MORTUARY MASK, MODEL CALLED "RUSI" In plaster,... - Lot 144 - Osenat

Lot 144
Go to lot
Estimation :
10000 - 15000 EUR
MORTUARY MASK, MODEL CALLED "RUSI" In plaster,... - Lot 144 - Osenat
MORTUARY MASK, MODEL CALLED "RUSI" In plaster, marked on the back with a pencil "The Emperor Napoleone in Saint Helena" (sic) H : 20 cm. L : 16 cm. Small dents, chips and scratches. Presented in a mahogany box with a glass lid. L : 20 x 19 cm. H: 20 cm. Provenance : This mask belonged in 1939 to Charles Adler who bought it from a man named Louis-Charles de Bourbon, who claimed to have acquired it from the Prince of Essling, who fdenied any presence of such a mask in his collections. -It was kept in the Royal United Service Museum between 1947 and 1972. -It then became part of the Corso collection, which was donated in 2004. The provenance of this relic before Charles Adler's gift was called into question by the research of Mr. Albert BENHAMOU, who challenged the hypothesis of an imperial provenance and concluded that it was a false relic of the Emperor sold to the Royal United Service Institute. History: Despite its complex provenance, this mask is an important element in the quarrel between historians and specialists over the thorny question of the death masks of the Emperor Napoleon. After the war, it was Baron Eugène de Veauce who rediscovered it and made it known in France, followed by Georges Rétif. Since then, the mask has continued to fascinate historians and scientists, without it being possible to decide whether or not it is an authentic image of the Emperor's features.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue